


Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom II

by thepenishellamightier



Series: Keys to the Kingdom [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-05-01 09:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 396,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5200979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepenishellamightier/pseuds/thepenishellamightier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sora, Azlyn, and Telary are back on an all-new adventure. When the trio awaken from a mysterious sleep to find the worlds in danger once again, they'll have to put their skills and friendship to the test in order to defeat the evil Organization XIII and the power of Nothingness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Like A Far Off Memory

Thunder rumbles high in the atmosphere of the dark city, carrying with it the threat of a storm, a threat that looms constantly over this place in the In-Between, where everything is Nothing. It never actually rains, but the menace is always there, hovering in the background.

A man in a black cloak leans against a black metal wall, the base of a skyscraper that rises high into the gloomy air like the countless others that provide this place its bleak ambience. He wears a long hooded coat of black, plus black pants, boots, and gloves, his lower body blending near perfectly into the wall except for the zippers that reflect the glittering lights from neon signs, the only light in this forsaken place minus the tiny moon that hovers in the sky, not yet complete.

His hood is pulled back to reveal a gaunt face that seems more accustomed to playfulness and glee than the moodiness that weighs on it now. A shock of spiked red hair stands out like a beacon of brightness against the citiy’s gloom.

The name he has been given is Axel, and while he doesn’t necessarily _like_ it, he realizes that it’s all he’s got now. He remembers his other name, the one he had before, but that was another time, another place.

Another world.

He hears footsteps coming his way, and looks up from his contemplative staring at the asphalt of the city’s street to watch this new arrival. The approaching figure is dressed the same as Axel, a black coat with the hood down, and his golden blonde tower of spikes stands out just as much as Axel’s red. He’s much younger than his fellow coat-wearer, perhaps only sixteen, but the look in his eyes, one of pure grit and concentration, seems centuries old.

The boy walks past Axel without a word, not even sparing him a glance.

“So, that’s it then, huh?” Axel asks the blond boy, his tone even and without inflection. “You’ve made up your mind about this, huh? You’re going to turn your back on the Organization.”

The boy stops and spares Axel a sideways glance, something that could be frustration in his blue eyes. Closing those eyes, the boy turns to fully face his interrogator. When he opens them again, they are clear and bright. Axel finds them no less than mesmerizing.

“If they aren’t going to give me the answers I need to know, which they _won’t_ ,” the boy practically spits, sounding angry, “Then yes, I think I am.” He shakes his head lightly. “I’m sorry Axel, or at least as sorry as I can be, but I have to know why. Why did the Keyblade choose me? Why did they lie to me, _use_ me, like they did?” His fists clench, trembling slightly. “Why am I the only one who goddamn _feels_ anything around here, huh? I’m not supposed to, and yet…”

“So it’s your _feelings_ then, eh?” Axel shouts, exiting his slouch and stalking forward a few steps. Something like rage wells up inside him, filling him in a way that catches him off guard, nearly breaking his stride. “Those feelings aren’t going to protect you when the higher ups send someone to unmake you, y’know. And they _certainly_ won’t do you any good once you’re reduced to nothing but a _Dusk_ , if you’re not killed outright.”

The boy blinks up at his former compatriot, still as solid and determined as ever.

“Who would know I’m gone?” he says, something maudlin in his tone, resigned, melancholic. A hundred emotions that Axel can’t even feel. The boy turns and begins to walk away once more. “No one’s going to miss me.”

Axel feels something odd, an anomalous lump in his throat that seems to radiate inside his entire being. Vague memories of sorrows past, sorrows born under his old moniker, give a name to it: Sadness.

“That’s not true at all,” he mumbles, not sure whether the departing boy can hear, or even if Axel wants him to. “ _I_ would miss you… Roxas.”

**_> Restoration at 12%_ **

The sun shines down upon Destiny Islands, the same as it ever does. The afternoon air is the perfect temperature for fall, neither bitingly cold nor oppressively hot. School is out for the day, and the front lawn of Destiny Islands High School is full of young teens, huddling in groups and eagerly discussing either the events of the day or plans for the evening.

One girl stands alone in the midst of the grouped masses, her auburn hair gently billowing back with the breeze. She wears the same uniform as the other girls, plaid skirt and white shirt with a blue tie. Her blue cardigan rests around her waist, bouncing up and down as she makes her way through the crowd, something in her eyes suggesting that her thoughts are anywhere but where she is.

Another group of girls notice and, as teens are wont to do, immediately huddle closer to speculate about things that do not concern them.

“Every day it’s the same thing,” a girl with long, curled green hair comments to the rest of her clique, something nigh venomous in her every word. “She just walks right past everybody like they don’t even exist. Won’t talk to anybody. It’s like we’re _beneath_ her or something.”

“I hear you, Rydia,” agrees another girl, her pink hair tied back in a braid. “It’s the same story at lunch. I haven’t seen her eat with anybody all year, not once. It’s like she’s actively avoiding any human contact at all.”

“Maybe something is going on with her,” suggests a blonde girl, sunlight highlighting her flaxen hair.

“Oh, there’s something going on with her alright, Penelo,” Rydia says with a scowl and pouty lips. “She thinks she’s _better_ than everybody, uh huh. Just because she’s the mayor’s daughter…”

“ _Adopted_ daughter,” the pink-haired girl interjects.

“Exactly, Serah, thank you,” Rydia agrees with an approving nod. “Just because the mayor took her into his home after whatever freak accident got her dropped off here thirteen years ago, she thinks she’s hot stuff. It’s infuriating.”

Penelo bites her lip before speaking up. “Well, she wasn’t always this way,” she says, her voice wavering a bit, not used to defying the will of the clique. “I remember she used to talk to us all the time. We were all good friends.” Suddenly, an idea comes to the girl’s head. “She used to always be with that Riku kid, y’know, before he… Well, before whatever happened to him. Maybe…”

“You’re _right_ , I almost forgot!” Rydia says, nodding sagely. “I’ll bet that’s what happened. Her little boyfriend got a little too close for her daddy’s liking, and the mayor had him like, thrown in a dungeon or something.”

“There’s no dungeon in city hall,” Penelo protests.

Despite their attempts at discretion, Kairi can nonetheless hear every syllable the group is whispering about her, back pressed up against a nearby tree where they won’t see her. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, sighing at the cruel words before moving on, not wanting to hear any more of their slanderous invective.

She walks the path up the hill back home, thinking on what she’d heard. It’s true that she has been exceptionally solitary this year, her classmates kept at arm’s length. And it’s not for any reason they might have come up with, any haughtiness or spite in the redhead’s heart.

It’s because of sadness.

“Kairi!” calls out a familiar girlish voice from down the hill behind her. Kairi stops and takes a moment to plaster on a smile, not wishing to alienate one of her few remaining friends. She looks down to see Selphie, clad in her own school uniform, her brown hair bouncing around her face as she makes her way up the path.

“Hey, Selphie,” Kairi greets the younger girl, fifteen and only a sophomore, as she stops in front of her. “What’s the rush?”

Selphie grins up at her. “I wanted to catch you before you got down the hill. Your house isn’t far from here, and once you get there…”

Kairi’s smile falters at the truth of Selphie’s words. “Oh, uh, yeah. So what did you want?”

“Okay, so I know that you’re kind of in a weird, like, loner phase,” the girl says, twisting a strand of hair around her finger, “But I wanted to see if you’d come out to the little island with me this afternoon. I asked Tidus, but he’s gotten all wrapped up in some ballgame, and Wakka’s still at work…”

“Sorry, not today,” Kairi replies, more curtly than she’d intended. Seeing the saddened look on Selphie’s face, she decides to explain, hoping that the younger girl will understand. “Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with me all the time? We’d go to the island together…”

“You mean Riku?” Selphie asks, remembering the moody silver-haired boy who had disappeared from the islands a little less than a year ago. Rumors abounded as to his current whereabouts, or whether he was even still alive. “Yeah, you hung out with him a lot. I wonder what happened to him…”

Kairi smiles at the younger girl, thinking on her best friend somewhere out in the beyond, other worlds. The details are still fuzzy, like she’s missing a huge chunk of information about him, but…

“He’s very far away right now,” is all she decides Selphie needs to know. It wouldn’t be right to burden the sophomore with the oddity of knowing of other worlds. “But I know that he’ll come back and we’ll see him again one day.”

“Sure,” is all Selphie says, quietly under her breath, miffed at the oddly dreamy tone in Kairi’s voice.

“But do you remember the other boy?” Kairi asks, a bright feeling swelling in her heart at the thought of him.

“Uh, no. I don’t think there _was_ …”

“He’s real,” Kairi says in a suddenly steely tone, shocking Selphie into backpedaling a few steps. Devastated that she’d upset the young girl, Kairi softens. “Sorry, Selphie, but he _is_. I think he went away at the same time Riku did, but his voice… His voice used to be there, in my heart, and now it’s gone. I can’t remember his face, or even his _name_ …”

“That sounds awful, Kairi,” Selphie says sympathetically. “I can’t imagine…”

Kairi sighs, silently agreeing with the sophomore that no, she _couldn’t_ imagine. No one could. And what’s more, she’s sure there’s something else, _someone_ else, her heart is calling out to but getting no response from. She vaguely remembers red hair, so much like her own…

“Anyway,” she eventually says to the bewildered looking Selphie, turning away, “I made a promise to myself that until I remembered them… I mean, _him_ , I wouldn’t go back to that island. Not for anything.”

“Oh,” is all Selphie says, confused by this odd behavior. She’s always seen Kairi as so wise and mature, and suddenly this nonsense about boys who don’t exist? “Okay, Kairi. I guess I’ll see you soon then…”

Selphie bolts back the other way, and Kairi turns her head to watch her go, a breeze blowing her hair back into her eyes. She settles it with a flip and continues up the path, not stopping until she crests the hill.

The play island occupies the same spot it always has, about two miles out from the largest resident island. From the back Kairi doesn’t recognize any of her most treasured landmarks, but she remembers her and Riku on the small paopu islet, and the other boy with them, watching the sunset.

She tries not to dwell on it as she starts down the hill and toward home, keeping her eyes on the path in front of her. There are things she remembers about that island clear as day but for a single detail, an anomalous boy that may as well have had no name. It’s without a doubt the most frustrating thing she’s ever experienced.

She reaches her house soon enough, a two-story plantation style home with a wraparound porch. The window that her room is behind lies farthest to the left, the curtain drawn and the lights dimmed.

Sighing, she lowers herself into the cushioned wicker couch next to the door, leaning back into its soft padding. There are too many houses and tall palm trees in the way for her to see the play island, but she knows exactly where it is, like it’s calling to her very core. Her heart.

Come to think of it, there seems to be something else in her heart at the moment, a sudden heavy burden in her chest that spreads up to her forehead, pressure gathering there.

“Naminé?” a male voice asks interrogatively, breaking through Kairi’s rush of discomfort. Despite not recognizing it in the least, the redhead nevertheless casts her gaze around to see if there is someone approaching. She sees no one. “Naminé, what’s happening to me?”

Kairi struggles to her feet, but her legs are as wobbly as a newborn calf’s, and she collapses back into her seat, darkness edging out her vision…

She sees someone in the darkness, falling endlessly through the void. The figure seems far away, but she can see a few details: a red jumpsuit and black hoodie with white sleeves, spiky brown hair…

Suddenly the details change and the mysterious figure, a boy, is wearing black and white, with spiked blond hair rising above his head.

“Who are you?” Kairi asks the boy, her voice echoing in the black emptiness. “Why did you call me that? My name isn’t Naminé. It’s…”

“Oh!” the mysterious boy’s voice exclaims, sounding delighted. “I think I know… Kairi, right?”

“Yes, that’s it. My name is Kairi.”

“You’re that girl he likes,” the voice says with a hint of knowing. “I dreamed about you. He must have made me…”

“Who?” Kairi asks, a desperate feeling like none she’s ever known before rising up inside of her. “Who are you talking about?”

“Somebody…”

“I needa _name_!” Kairi demands, determination edging out desperation and taking control. “Please, just tell me! I…”

“You don’t even remember my _name_ , Kairi?” a third voice suddenly interrupts, so different from the boy she’d been previously conversing with. This voice sounds lively and sure, suffusing ever word with raw emotion. He sounds exasperated, but at the same time full of joy…

“Are you… Telary?” Kairi blurts out the first name that comes into her head, though _why_ that name is Telary she has no idea.

“Not at all, but I think he’ll be glad to know you thought of him,” the cheerful voice says, and suddenly the image of a smirk comes to Kairi’s mind. “You know how neurotic he can get…”

“Who are you talking about?” Kairi demands, going for as fierce an attitude as possible. “Would you please just give me a name…?”

“I’ll give you a hint,” the voice concedes, and Kairi can momentarily think of nothing but clear blue eyes rolling exasperatedly. “Everything else you’ll have to figure out on your own, but… It starts with an ‘S’. I’ll bet that will be enough…”

Kairi’s eyes snap open, and she frantically casts her gaze around the porch, finding nothing has changed but the position of the sun in the sky, closing in on the horizon.

“Something else,” Kairi mumbles to herself, suddenly feeling the need to clutch her heart, like the vessel is overflowing and only she can hold together what’s inside.

And just like that, everything begins to click into place.

Gasping at her sudden revelation, Kairi stands and darts into her house, racing straight up to her room. She skids to a stop inside, catching the door with one hand and shutting it tightly.

**_> Restoration at 36%... _ **

**_> Be advised, restoration speed has increased by factor of 2. _ **

A blue crystal that shouldn’t exist flies up into the air, hovers for a brief moment, and falls back down into a black-gloved hand.

The man in the black cloak, hood up to conceal his face, watches in amazement as the numbers on the computer’s main screen begin to rise rapidly, far faster than they had been all throughout the week.

Putting away his trinket, he types a few commands into the console’s keyboard, making sure that the sudden rapid growth isn’t going to harm the subject two chambers over, or the ones in the hall. Looking at the medical charts, he actually begins to see an improvement.

There’s a sudden sound from his cloak’s pocket, two sharp beeps. Frowning, Cloak reaches into his coat and pulls out a small pager device, the source of the annoying noise. He reads the red digital word across its face:

_Den. Now._

Sighing deeply, he returns the device to his pocket and makes his way out of the small laboratory.

It takes only a minute to reach the manor’s den, once surely a cozy little nook, but now nothing but a dilapidated wreck, from the fallen chandelier to the heavy oak table cracked in two. Various other debris lies all around, and a large shelving unit has even falling over. The only light is filtered in through the room’s grimy windows, giving a sense of gloom to the entire place.

But Cloak ignores all that, focusing only on the man in the high-backed chair, red bandages covering most of his face. One hole reveals a right eye the color of dull gold, and another his mouth, cracked lips surrounded by tanned skin. He wears a long red cape draped around his shoulders, and a long black cloth covers most of his black clad legs and leather boots.

Oddest of all is the two belts cinched around his head, crossing each other where his left eye should be.

“The progress is astonishing,” Cloak reports, taking a seat opposite the man in red. “Like it’s suddenly doubled. I don’t know how it happened, but I have to tell you DiZ…”

“It seems that his encounter with Naminé put Roxas in contact with Kairi,” DiZ interrupts, waving one black-gloved hand and a long tan sleeve. “And from there, _his_ heart was able to find her. With such a strong connection made, it won’t be long now at all.”

“So it’s nearly finished, eh?” Cloak marvels, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers thoughtfully. After a moment, he leans forward. “Now that you mentioned it, things _are_ starting to become much clearer.”

“The holes in your memory are beginning to fill in,” DiZ informs Cloak, nodding sagely. “Since I was able to shield you from the harshest effects of Naminé’s powers, you’re only getting a small taste of what’s happening to everyone else who knew the Keyblade wielder.”

“It’s amazing to think that all this trouble was caused by one little Nobody,” Cloak marvels, shaking his head. “Naminé’s skills with memories are truly something to behold. She’s actually chaining them together.”

“Yes, she has been quite useful,” DiZ admits dully. “Although it was her who started this mess to begin with.”

“You know she was forced to do that. You were there.”

DiZ shrugs nonchalantly, like it isn’t even important.

Something has become exceedingly important to Cloak in these past few months of his association with the bandaged man, though, a question that has nagged at him from the start.

“I think I deserve to know now,” he says evenly, leaning back in his chair and resting his hands in his lap. “What has been the purpose of all this for you? You don’t even know him, so what is the point of restoring him?”

DiZ's single eye stares impassively at Cloak for a very long time. After the pause, he leans forward and whispers a single word.

“Revenge.”

Cloak cocks his head at his strange collaborator, silently mouthing the word back at him.

“Now you know my secret,” DiZ says with a smirk and a sardonic air. “And I of course know all about the things you are trying to hide yourself.”

“I suppose that makes us even,” Cloak concedes bitterly, grinding his teeth together in frustration.

DiZ stands up and looks down at Cloak, clasping his hands behind his back under his cape. It’s an obvious power move, but Cloak feels no need to stand himself and counter.

“Yes, it seems it does,” the bandaged man says plainly, nodding once. “Which is quite fortuitous, I must say, since we are nearly to the end of our endeavor. All we need now is for Roxas to add his power, and things will have all worked out rather splendidly, I must say.”

“Do you need me to get him to come here?” Cloak asks, cocking his head to the left. Internally, he cringes at the thought of returning to DiZ's false data world, but if it means his goals can be reached, he’s willing to venture in once more.

DiZ shakes his head. “With what I have planned for him tomorrow, he shall come to _us_ quite of his own accord. I’m sure of it.”

“Then that’s it,” Cloak says, rising from his chair and moving to the door before DiZ can say anything else.

“Not so fast, my friend,” the bandaged man calls softly. Scowling, Cloak turns to face him. “There is still the matter of Naminé. Her unique birth and powers have made her valuable to us so far, but with this affair at an end, I think it would be best if she were to… disappear. Permanently.”

“How can you even suggest that?” Cloak rages, his anger summoning his sword to his hand in a violet flash. “After all she’s done for us…”

“Roxas is not the only one who was never meant to exist,” DiZ says, his voice hard as granite. “I know it may seem unpleasant to you, but I firmly believe that even a Nobody such as she cannot be allowed to live, insofar as the creatures _can_ live.” DiZ takes a pair of strong steps, fire blazing in his single revealed eye. “Take care of it…” The bandaged man chuckles, something almost fond in the sound.

“…Ansem.”

**_> Restoration at 66%..._ **

Kairi stands on the seashore, looking out once again at the island she and the boys used to play on. She is certain there were two of them now, a trio of friends there for each other through thick and thin.

She’s wearing her uniform once again, having rushed here from school as soon as it had let out, ignoring the whispered words from her schoolmates. In one hand she holds her tote, in the other, a green glass bottle.

“Uh, hey Kairi,” a familiar voice says behind her, though not one she’d expected to hear. Turning, she sees Penelo standing a few feet away, looking at her bashfully.

“Hi Penelo,” the redhead greets cheerily, waving the hand grasping the glass bottle. “What are you doing here? Aren’t your friends…?”

Penelo shrugs. “They’ve, uh, actually been getting on my nerves lately,” the girl admits with a shrug, looking past Kairi to the open ocean. “They can be such gossips, and they say mean things a lot, so… Anyway, I noticed you running out here.”

Kairi giggles. “I think everyone did. But, that’s okay.”

“What’s, uh, going on?”

The redhead turns back to the ocean, waving the bottle for emphasis. “There’s a letter in here that I wrote yesterday.”

“Who’s it for?” Penelo shakily inquires. “Not that it’s really my business…”

“The boy I can’t remember,” Kairi answers, the words coming out in a rush. She smiles as they leave her lips. “Riku and I’s best friend. The one I love.”

“Uh huh,” Penelo says skeptically, wondering for the hundredth time if following Kairi like this wasn’t a monumentally terrible idea.

“The letter is a promise,” Kairi continues, almost dreamily. “It says that no matter what, wherever that boy is, I’ll find him, because our hearts are connected. We made another promise together, and this letter is where I start fulfilling it, I just know it.”

“I hope he gets it,” Penelo says sincerely, the romance of the moment temporarily beating out its strangeness.

Kairi bends down and awaits the incoming wave. When it rises up to hit her black dress shoe, she lowers the bottle into it, letting the current send it drifting out into the sea. She watches it bob farther and farther out, a smile growing on her face with every second.

“Starts with an ‘S’,” she repeats to herself, though she’s sure Penelo can hear it too. “Isn’t that right, Sora?”

**_> Restoration at 84%..._ **

“Two please!” Pence declares cheerfully to the young woman behind the counter at Sunset Station Ice Cream. She nods and begins to calculate the total.

“That’ll be sixty-five munny,” she declares, taking the boy in the long red jersey’s munny and placing it into her register. Another man comes up behind her to hand off two frozen rectangles of Sea Salt ice cream, which she passes to Pence. He eagerly takes one in each hand, holding on tight to their thin wooden sticks.

He thanks the shop girl and goes on his way, licking at one icy treat with a fervor as he heads for the exit to Sunset Station, the only place in Twilight Town that serves his favorite ice cream flavor. He loves the salty-sweet treat so much that he doesn’t even mind having to brave the train platform to get one.

He did go in quite early, though, to beat the after-work rush hour. The only train docked now is the one to Sunset Terrace, and as far as Pence can tell nobody is in a rush to go there.

There’s a sudden loud noise that draws the slightly pudgy boy’s attention back to the platform just in time to see a large door retracting into the ceiling, another train coming in. With nothing else to do but help Olette start that independent studies project, Pence decides to watch.

His eyes widen as he realizes that the train clacking along to a stop at Berth Zero is no ordinary train. Instead of the dull orange color of most Twilight Town cars, this one is colored a deep purple with a golden grille sticking out in front. Atop the car is a purple cone, rising high to a point some ten feet in the air, covered with images of white stars and crescent moons.

Most disturbing, however, is the fact that through the violet tinted glass at the train’s front, Pence can see no conductor.

“So the rumors _are_ true,” Pence says softly to himself, both of his ice cream bars forgotten, which is a good indicator of how truly shocking this is to the boy.

For years rumors have persisted of a mysterious “ghost train” that had only been seen by a few from the high perch of Sunset Hill, rolling along the tracks through the plain green hills and valleys beyond Twilight Town. One story purported that it was the private car of a long dead sorcerer, others that it carried illicit narcotics into the town from parts unknown.

But the most popular rumor of all was that the train existed to ferry damned souls to the clutches of their eternal punishment.

There’s a loud hiss of air as the train’s door slides open, and Pence immediately seeks refuge behind a trash can, futilely bending down in an attempt to hide himself. There’s no way his soul is going for a ride to the afterworld.

He’s shocked, then, when a small creature that can only be half his height emerges, dressed head to toe in a black cloak, hood up to conceal most of his face. Pence is hardly looking at the man’s face, however, far too distracted by two hood-covered ears the size of dinner plates.

**_> Restoration at 99%..._ **


	2. Awakening

_The blond boy looks around the pure white room he’s entered, awed that a place like this could truly exist in the town he has called his home for the past seventeen…_

_No, that’s not right, it hasn’t been seventeen years. Nothing he knows has been real. Illusion and technical trickery have been the agents through which his life was lived. And maybe it isn’t actually his life, anyway._

_Whatever the case, Roxas can sense that his true destiny, his real identity, lies in the gleaming silver pod before him. Through the frosted glass he can just barely make out the face of his true self, the reason he exists._

_The boy who is Somebody._

_He approaches the pod cautiously, the white and black blades in either hand crossing each other as they build power._

_“I guess,” he says wistfully as he feels himself begin to fade, a bright whiteness closing in on his vision, narrowing it like a tunnel of pure light, “Summer’s over.”_

_The energy of his blades, his Keyblades, begins to grow, washing over the pod, the light and power of them seeping into the technology and the boy inside. And the brightness finally closes in completely, leaving Roxas staring at nothing but brilliant light, like he’s living in the heart of a star._

_Living in the heart…_

**_> Restoration at 100%. Subject is complete._ **

As Sora awakens, he swears he can hear a voice whisper something to him, something sad and melancholic, and perhaps about summer…

“Sora…?” the voice calls softly, slowly fading into darkness and obscurity.

“Sora!” another voice, this one loud, female, and abundantly familiar to him cries out, shocking the boy from his dreamy reverie. “Would you get your skinny butt outta there already?”

He’s floating on a cushion of air, his feet dangling just a few inches above a round white bowl. In front of him is a curved wall of white material, though what it is and how he came to be inside it Sora has no idea.

“Well that wasn’t very nice, now was it?” admonishes a second voice that Sora recognizes immediately, this one several octaves deeper than the last, and male. “There are a lot of nicer ways you could have…”

“Ugh, give me a break Telary,” the first voice, Azlyn, groans.

“I’m just saying…”

“Okay, fine. Sora, could you _please_ hurry up and haul ass out of that pod thing already?”

A sigh from Telary. “Y’know, that wasn’t actually much better at all. Sometimes I don’t even know why I bother…”

Cautiously, Sora raises his right hand. He watches the fingerless white glove on it for a moment, and then all of a sudden there’s a loud hiss and an accompanying crack.

Outside the huge white pod, Azlyn and Telary both take a pair of cautious steps backward, looking up in awe as the smooth metal surface of the pod opens like a flower bud encountering morning’s first light. When the process stops, Sora stands revealed, floating in midair in the pod’s exact center.

He smiles down at his companions and takes a step forward, whereupon he realizes that the pod’s antigravity effect doesn’t extend far. With a loud yelp, Sora falls through the air towards the ground.

Luckily for him, the pair from Disney Castle adeptly move forward as one, arms stretching out. The boy falls into them, shock traveling up his weakened legs for a moment.

He raises his head to regard the both of them, suddenly feeling like he hasn’t seen them in quite some time.

They must return the feeling, for as soon as Sora’s feet have steadied themselves the trio join hands, happily bouncing in a circle while laughing like children.

 ****Kingdom Hearts  
Keys to the Kingdom  
II

After a moment they stop and pull apart. Sora notices Azlyn give him a once over, then snicker indiscreetly into her black gloved hand.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, stepping up to the apprentice knight indignantly, hands on hips.

“Well, uh, Sora…” Telary interjects, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. The tiny spikes of his red hair shake with the motion. “Your clothes are, um, well your clothes are a bit on the small side.”

Furrowing his brow, Sora looks down to see that his garments are indeed quite a bit smaller on him than he last remembered, the red shorts of his jumpsuit resting about halfway up his thighs. Certainly his short white-sleeved black jacket feels a bit tight against his chest. Pretty much the only thing that remains the same is the chain around his neck and the crown-shaped pendant hanging from it, and his yellow shoes.

“You look ridiculous!” Azlyn manages to get out through her laughter.

Sora gives the knight a once over of his own, and though her blue skirt and jacket seem no different size-wise, her black boots are the same, and her good-luck thalassa shell necklace is still wrapped around her right wrist and forearm, something definitely has changed about the girl.

“Yeah, well check out that hair you’ve got!” the boy points out with a laugh, realizing what it is.

The girl’s normally close cut blonde locks have increased length considerably, now falling perhaps an inch past her shoulders. They’re lighter too, as if someone has given them a good shine.

“You don’t think I know?” she shoots back, along with a stink eye for the Keyblade wielder, which he shrugs off.

“I kinda like it…” Telary mutters, too quiet for anybody but him to hear. He’s dressed the same, in light green trousers, a white shirt with ¾ length yellow sleeves, and a green sleeveless hoody.

Azlyn reaches into the pocket of her jacket and pulls back an elastic hair tie.

“Why do you have one of those things with you?” Sora asks incredulously as Azlyn fixes her hair into a high and tight ponytail. “Last time I saw you, you had less hair than I did!”

She shrugs, lowering her arms to her sides once again. “I’m a girl,” is the only explanation she offers.

Sora and Telary look at each other and nod, the knight’s explanation good enough for them. With that settled, Sora begins to look around the odd space the trio are in.

Everything seems to be white, so brightly lit that Sora can scarcely even begin to tell how big the room is. The only truly distinguishing feature is the large pod he’d just emerged from.

There’s a sudden tiny noise, drawing the attention of the trio directly to the left pocket of Sora’s shorts. Curious, the boy reaches in and pulls out a green cricket in a tiny black blazer, a small top hat resting on his head.

The insect opens his eyes and stretches out his arms, white gloved hands grasping at thin air for a few brief moments. He blinks a few times and looks up at the trio.

“Hi, everybody!” he greets them cheerily through the last pangs of a barely stifled yawn.

“Hi Jiminy,” all three say back, happy to see that the tiny conscience-cum-chronicler up and about.

“That sure was some nap, huh?” he says, standing up in Sora’s palm. He steadies himself, then leaps down to land on the white floor.

“Do you think…?” Telary begins, trailing off as he makes sure he actually wants to say what he is about to. “Were we all asleep too, do ya think?” Everyone else shrugs, pretty much accepting it. “Well then for how long, and why did we decide to do it in big white pods?”

“Plus, why can’t we remember,” Azlyn adds with a sagely nod. “And also, where are we?”

“Wait, were you guys in pods too?” Sora asks his companions, who both nod back. He frowns, a bit chilled. “This is some really freaky stuff.”

“Do either of you remember anything?” Telary asks the others, his arms crossed tightly across his chest, brow furrowed. “Anything at all, just so we can build some kind of timeline.”

Sora thinks back. “Well, we defeated Ansem, stopping Darkness from overflowing every world and saving countless billions of lives, mostly thanks to my Keyblade…”

Azlyn punches the boy on the upper arm for his hubris.

“We found my sister, Kairi…” Telary continues, thinking hard.

“Sora’s _girlfriend_!” Azlyn says mockingly, which gets her a shove from the Keybearer. It apparently jogs her memory, for she suddenly chimes in with, “There was that big long path! That’s where we ended up after sealing the Door to Darkness!”

“Oh yeah!” Sora agrees, pushing his memory hard to expunge anything further. To his shock, he finds that he can’t. “We were gonna go looking for Riku and the king!”

The trio pause to think another moment.

“That’s all I’ve got,” Telary admits, his arms dropping limply to his sides.

“Me too,” Azlyn agrees.

“Nothing from me!” chimes in Jiminy Cricket.

Telary looks down at the little fellow, eyes wide. “Hey, what about your journal, Jiminy? You recorded everything we did on our journey! Maybe you wrote down why we went in those pods!”

“Or were put in them…” Azlyn mumbles darkly.

Jiminy pulls out his journal and begins to flip through it, a slow look of horror settling across his face as he browses.

“What’s wrong, Jim?” Sora asks.

“I… I can’t believe it,” the little conscience stammers, flipping rapidly back through the book and seeing the same result. “It’s all blank! Everything I wrote down in my journal is gone! All of the details of your adventure are blank, Sora!”

“What?” Telary blurts out, shocked.

“Huh?” Sora exclaims similarly.

Azlyn reaches down to grab the journal, take a look for herself. As she brings it up to her face, a small square of white paper drifts out and floats gently down.

Sora grabs it out of the air and places it in his palm, reading carefully. “That’s weird. It says ‘Thank Naminé’. Who’s that?”

The rest of the party shrug, none of them knowing any better what the card may mean, or anything about a Naminé.

“Maybe we wanted to get put to sleep,” Telary posits, scratching his chin. “And this Naminé guy helped us out!”

Azlyn looks skeptical. “Eh, I’m pretty sure there’s no way I’d let anybody lock me up and put me to sleep in some place I didn’t know.”

“Well, maybe we _are_ somewhere we know,” Jiminy pipes up, drawing the trio’s attentions back downward. “I mean, how will we know if we don’t at least look around, try to get our bearings some.”

“Good idea Jiminy,” Sora agrees, reaching down to scoop up the chronicler and place him in his jacket pocket. He looks to Azlyn and Telary. “C’mon, I wanna see the pods you guys were in.”

The trio exits into a long, curving hallway of blue metal. The walls all around are lined with small white pods similar to the one Sora had just emerged from.

“I was in this one,” Azlyn says, marching up to the sixth pod from the door and tapping it with her hand. “And Telary was two down. To the right.”

“I checked them over before we went to look for you,” the wizard explains, frowning at the odd crystalline machine. “I couldn’t find any clues as to what they are. Besides our pair, none of them look like they’ve been touched in a long time. They’re covered with dust.”

“Have you checked out what’s at the other end of this hallway?” Sora asks, indicating with his head.

Azlyn shakes her head. “No, we went straight in to see you.” She frowns. “Though come to think of it, I’m not sure how we even knew where to find you…”

They continue on, passing through the door at the far end of the hall and into another chamber, this one large and square, the same dull blue color all around as the hall. There are two doors leading out of it, but one is blocked off by a massive piece of stone rubble, so the trio passes it by.

The other door leads them into a larger room, a computer console up against one wall, several screens held over it by a system of metal bars. Every screen is blank but the largest one right above the chair and keyboard, which has a single long black rectangle inside it that reads “Dataspace Password Required”.

“What’s a Dataspace?” Sora asks Telary, the most knowledgeable of the trio where technology is concerned. He’d used computers back on Destiny Islands, but then mostly for school projects or mindless video games.

“Some kind of digital network, I think,” Telary explains, taking a seat in the cushioned black chair. “Probably for storing information, or even programming something.”

“Could it know stuff about where we are, and why we got put to sleep?” Azlyn inquires, leaning over Telary’s shoulder, one hand gripping the chair’s back. “Or who this Naminé is? Maybe this is Naminé’s computer.”

Telary shrugs, staring intently at the “Password Required” box. He bites his lip and presses a random key on the keyboard, and suddenly the box is blank except for a single blinking vertical line. His fingers hover over the keyboard for a second, but he retracts them just as quickly. “I’m not sure what to do. I mean, this password could be anything.”

“What about ‘password’,” Azlyn suggests, completely serious.

Sora rolls his eyes. “C’mon, Azlyn, you can’t be serious.”

“Of course I am!” the knight protests indignantly, her tone combative. “I used to use that as a password all the time in school, and nobody ever stole any of _my_ assignments.”

In his head Telary argues with himself the merits of explaining to his counterpart that perhaps the reason her assignments were never copied had more to do with her classmates’ faith in their quality than airtight security. He decides that it might be unwise, just in time for Azlyn to shoulder him aside and start typing.

She presses enter and there’s a loud _buzz_. The screen goes blank, and all the others soon follow.

“Well, whaddya know?” Sora says impishly, earning a devastating glare from the knight. Telary also gives him a look that suggests the Keybearer is pushing it.

“C’mon,” the wizard says with a sigh, rising to his feet and heading to another doorway. He presses his hand against it and it slides open, revealing a set of stairs. Once the others join him he leads the way up.

They emerge into a square pit that seems to be inside a library, the shelves surrounding it lined with books of all manners and descriptions. They walk up a flight of stairs to the main grounds, a ring of carpeted floor surrounding the pit.

Telary being Telary, he immediately goes to a bookshelf and plucks out the first book he sees, a dark blue hardback. Frowning, he does a quick skim through.

“It’s odd,” he says, drawing the attention of his companions, who had been examining a unicorn-head bust settled onto a dusty shelf. “I think… I think I read this book before, when I was a child. Back in…”

“Hollow Bastion!” Azlyn exclaims, excited at the mention of her homeworld. “Do you think… We’re there?”

Sora frowns and scratches and his chin. “Uh, maybe. I don’t know…”

“Only one way to find out,” Azlyn declares, shoving open the simple wooden door out of the library. Sora runs out after her, and Telary follows once he returns the book to its proper place.

“Definitely not Hollow Bastion,” Azlyn comments as she surveys the large, rubble strewn ground floor of a huge mansion. There’s a big door to her right, and to the left are two flights of stairs leading to a long hallway on the second floor. In between the flights is a large glass door leading out into a garden with a prominently displayed unicorn statue in the middle.

“No,” Telary agrees, sounding a little melancholic at the revelation. He shakes his head for clarity and square himself up. “Still, we’d do well to do a thorough investigation. Maybe there’s a clue around here somewhere…”

It’s decided that Telary will peruse the garden while Azlyn and Sora take to the upstairs. The pair climb up the nearest flight of stairs and peer into a room just to the left of it, finding only a crushed dining table and overturned shelf.

They then take to the right, walking the entire length of the second floor before stumbling upon a door into a room as blindingly white as the one Sora had awoken in. Everything in the room matches, from the cabinets set back against the far wall to the large table running along through its middle. All along the wall opposite the doorway is a thing, gauzy curtain. Azlyn goes to it while Sora heads to the cabinet.

Peeking inside the glass door, Sora sees a piece of paper with a drawing scribbled on it in crayon. It’s of two boys with spiky hair, their backs facing the observer. One is blond and wears a long black coat of some kind, and the other seems an exact match for…

“Sora!” Azlyn calls to her friend, snapping the Keybearer out of his dreamy funk. He folds the picture up and stuffs it into his jacket pocket, then moves to join the knight.

She has pulled back the curtain to reveal a huge picture window overlooking a lush forest, and beyond that a town. Sora’s eye is particularly drawn to a large clock tower.

After a second he notices the orange tint of a sky in the midst of twilight, huge grey clouds hovering over it all.

“Wherever this is,” Azlyn says, her head tilted thoughtfully, “I don’t think it’s anywhere we’ve been before.”

Sora nods in agreement, but something in his gut, or maybe his heart, tells him that statement is patently false.

“Wow,” Telary’s voice comes suddenly from behind the pair, who turn to see their companions standing at the door to the white room. “Keeping this place clean must be terrible.”

“Any clues?” Azlyn asks her counterpart, crossing her arms across her chest quizzically.

The wizard shakes his head. “Just an overgrown garden and a fountain that doesn’t work. Nothing.”

“Well, there’s a town not far from here that we could check out,” Azlyn informs her counterpart, already moving to join him at the door. “But I’m pretty sure we aren’t anywhere we know.”

“What about you, Sora?” Telary asks the Keybearer, who has turned back to look out the picture window once again, his gaze focused on the clock tower.

Shocked out of his daydreaming, Sora shrugs. “Uh, yeah, I think that’s our best bet. Go to town, talk to some people. Find out… y’know, things.”

Telary smiles almost cautiously at the boy. “Sure thing, Sora. Let’s go check out that town.”

“Maybe someone knows something about this creepy old place,” Azlyn posits as she and her counterpart exit the room.

After they leave, Sora takes the crayon drawing out of his pocket and examines it carefully. There’s no doubt that one of the figures in it is him, but the mysterious other one…

“Sora, c’mon!” Azlyn calls, and the boy lets go of the drawing. He watches it drift slowly to the solid white ground, then follows along after his friends, trying to clear it from his mind.

As soon as the Keybearer is gone and the white room is empty, a huge black portal rises from the ground, fading away to reveal DiZ and the man in black known as Ansem.

“Well, it seems that your plan has succeeded,” Ansem says to his red-bandaged companion, who smiles so smugly that he just wants to knock it off the enigmatic man. “Sora’s back.”

DiZ chuckles mirthfully. “Oh, I’m afraid that this is only the beginning of my design, dear Ansem. The best is yet to come, I assure you.” He gives the man in black a measured sideways look. “Need I remind you that now your own plans can begin as well?”

Ansem shakes his hooded head. “It isn’t time for me to show myself to Sora yet,” he says evenly. “I have to wait for the perfect moment. Until then, I’ll keep watch from a safe distance. And you?”

“Much the same, I think,” DiZ replies. “I’ve spent so long moving pieces around the board that perhaps some time to sit back and observe is just what the doctor ordered, eh?”

Ansem only waves his hand, summoning another tall black portal of Darkness. “Do whatever you want. As far as I’m concerned, we’re done.”

DiZ nods agreeably, then turns to Ansem with a golden eye as steady as drumbeat. “Do not forget Naminé, Ansem. I know I won’t.”

With a last huff, the man in black steps into his portal and disappears.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary emerge from a large crack in one wall of the strange town and into a grand common area, tall buildings rising up all around, mostly constructed from brown and orange brick.

There’s a loud noise of _chugga chugga_ , and Sora turns to see a small tram rounding a corner into the plaza. He smiles appreciatively at the little conveyance.

“You three!” a sudden stern male voice calls out. Sora turns to see another trio of teens approaching, led by a tall boy in a black hat, the hem of his long white sleeveless coat trailing through the air behind him as his black boots stomp their way to the group. Behind him march a more muscular looking tanned boy in black sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt, and a silver-haired girl in a blue shirt and capris.

“Um, hi there!” Telary greets the boy, nervous despite the fact that the wizard has several inches in height advantage. “How are…?”

“What the hell do you punks think you’re doing?” the boy in the hat asks with a sneer, stopping a few feet from the confused trio and crossing his arms haughtily. Sora can’t help but notice the scar across the bridge of his nose, oddly similar to the one he remembers Leon having. He also notices that the guy’s mere presence ticks him off! “Sneaking out of the forest like a bunch of troublemakers.”

“Is, uh, is that a problem?” Telary asks hesitantly.

“It is a bit suspicious,” the boy says implacably.

“Shady,” mutters the silver-haired girl, one hand on her hip.

Sora feels a pressure in his hands, and looking down he sees they have both clenched into fists, seemingly of their own accord! Something about this boy just seems to be setting him off, though what the Keybearer can’t explain.

“What’s his problem?” the black hat boy asks, cocking his head in Sora’s direction. “Standing there scowling at me like a little…”

“You know what my problem is, jerk?” Azlyn counters, stepping up with fists clenched, rage in her eyes. “ _My_ problem is that apparently it’s illegal to be walking around minding your own business in this town!”

“Yo, you should know better than to talk to Seifer like that, ya know?” the tanned boy in the sleeveless shirt says, stepping up with his fists also raised.

“Disrespectful,” the silver-haired girl drones, getting ready for a fight herself.

“Enough!” Telary cries out, his arms raised high to the sky. Everyone else seems to calm down at his outburst, but only barely. The wizard looks to Seifer calmly. “All right, I’ll tell you the truth, okay?”

“This ought to be good,” Seifer deadpans.

“The truth is, this is my sister,” Telary gestures to Azlyn, who nods along, “And this is her secret boyfriend.”

Both of his companions’ heads snap immediately to the wizard, who just pretends not to notice.

“They think they’re in love, really they do,” he continues unabated. “And maybe they’re getting there, who can really tell with kids? Anyway, our parents, well, they just don’t approve because Sora here is, uh, not from the best family. So they’re forbidden to see each other, but then they snuck out to meet in the woods and, uh, stuff. So I just knew that it was my duty to, uh, stop them from making bad decisions. Older brother protector stuff, you understand.”

For a minute Seifer continues to stare the group down, his gaze flicking one member of the trio to the next. After a few agonizing seconds of that, his posture loosens, prompting his companions to do the same.

“You gotta keep your people in line,” Seifer says finally, nodding. “I understand, one disciplinarian to the other. Go on about your business.” He turns and walks away, and Telary sighs deeply in relief as his posse follows along behind him.

“What was that all about, ya big palooka!” Azlyn enthusiastically hisses to her older counterpart. “You couldn’t have come up with something, I dunno, _less gross_.”

The wizard shrugs helplessly. “Sorry, I panicked,” he defends, then turns to fix Sora with a stern look. “And don’t even get me started with your unhelpful behavior. You’re usually so kind and rational.”

“Sorry,” Sora sheepishly apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. “There was just something about that guy that set me off, right when I saw him.”

“I agree,” Azlyn chimes in. “Acting like he’s the big man around here. Well, _I_ didn’t see no stinkin’ badge anywhere.”

Telary rolls his eyes and walks further into the commons.

“When did he get so bossy?” Azlyn asks as she and Sora make their way behind him. “Just because he’s the oldest and the only _actual_ employee of Disney Castle doesn’t mean he’s in charge. And what is up with that anyway? He stole the same Gummi ship I did. Hell, he piloted the thing!”

Sora doesn’t respond to the knight’s rant, still wondering why he had been so easily set off by that Seifer guy, whose face had made him want to start swinging immediately.

Eventually his wandering places him in the front of the group, dictating their direction without even meaning too. After a few minutes of walking with his head down, he looks up to see that he’s led the group into a back alley, where an open door in a chain link fence leads back into an area behind a hanging scrap of cloth.

“Uh, Sora,” Telary finally speaks up after a long whisper-fight with Azlyn about who should say something to the Keybearer. “Do you know where you’re going?”

Sora frowns and looks around, something stirring inside him that he can’t quite explain.

“Y’know something,” he says finally, his frown straightening into a neutral line, “I think I might know this place. Maybe I’ve been to this town before…”

Azlyn and Telary exchange a look. “Uh, okay,” Azlyn says after a moment, “What’s it called?”

Sora opens his mouth to answer, only to snap it shut again as he realizes that he has no answer. Something hovers on the edge of his mind, however, just barely too far away to reach.

“Okay, maybe I was wrong…” he admits, though the notion that the name is somewhere in his head, just out of reach, lingers.

Curious, he moves past the mildly concerned Azlyn and Telary, pushing aside the scrappy cloth and entering a small back room with a pair of green couches against the walls. Inside sit three teens, two boys and a girl, scattered about the space and looking very bored.

“Why is it that _all_ teens in the universe travel in “boy-boy-girl” packs of three?” Azlyn mutters to her counterpart, frowning slightly.

“What do you think you’re doing?” says one boy, blond and tall with muscled arms exposed by his sleeveless back shirt. “This is _our_ spot.”

“Oh! Terribly sorry,” Telary apologizes, his palms raised placatingly.

“We’re new in town, and we just wondered what was back here, that’s all,” Sora adds, trying to ignore the odd warmth he feels. It’s probably just due to the little area not being air-conditioned. “Trying to get the lay of the land, y’know?”

The blond scoffs at him, rolling his eyes and standing up, his camouflage pants swishing as he stalks towards the group. “Well, now you know.”

“C’mon, Hayner,” the girl admonishes her friend, pushing brown hair out of her face.

“Yeah, don’t be such a jerk,” the other boy, a bit pudgy with a shock of black hair, agrees. He turns to the trio then, smiling brightly and wiping his hand on his red jersey. “I’m Pence.”

“Olette,” the girl chimes in cheerily.

“And I’m out of here,” Hayner says gruffly, stomping past the trio on his way to the exit.

“I apologize for him,” Olette sighs, stepping closer to them. “Sometimes he can just be a little… confrontational.”

“It’s okay,” Sora says with an understanding nod. He spares a microsecond long glance back at Azlyn. “I’m pretty used to confrontational.”

In an unlikely move, the knight opts not to prove the Keybearer’s point.

“So you’re new to Twilight Town, huh,” Pence says with a smile and a curious-seeming nod. “It feels like it’s been forever since anybody came here.”

“You’re lucky you got here when you did,” Olette adds with a cheerful grin. “We were just talking about what to do for our summer homework, but I guess you get to skip it, huh.”

“Homework?” Sora repeats, suddenly remembering just how long it’s been since he’s been concerned with such normal stuff as school assignments.

“Homework…” Telary mutters to himself almost wistfully, thinking on how long it has been since he’s felt the rush of turning in an assignment. There’s a sudden sour moment in his mind as he remembers how he’d meekly volunteered to do _other_ students homework as well, a time in his life he is not so proud of.

Azlyn just scrunches up her face at the unpleasant notion.

Suddenly Pence smacks himself on the forehead lightly. “Wow, I was hogging the conversation so much I forgot to ask,” he says as he shakes his head, “What are your names, guys?”

“Sora.”

“Azlyn.”

“Telary.”

The Twilight Town teens share a sudden surprised look between them.

“Oh my gosh, we just met someone who was looking for you!” Olette announces, brushing her bangs out of her face. “Well, Pence did…”

The pudgy boy nods. “Yeah, he seemed in a real hurry,” he says. “He was really short, and I couldn’t see his face because of the hood on his coat, but he had these big, round ears.” The boy traces circles in the air above his head.

There’s only one person the trio knows who could possibly fit that description. Mickey Mouse, ruler of Disney Castle and more or less Azlyn and Telary’s adoptive father!

“The king!” Azlyn exclaims excitedly, smiling broadly. “The king’s here looking for us!”

“You guys know a _king_?” Olette asks, incredulous.

“Yeah, he’s a pretty good friend,” Sora answers nonchalantly.

Azlyn rolls her eyes. “You haven’t even really met him, you rube!”

“Did he say where he’d be?” Telary asks, ignoring the brief bickering between his two partners.

“He said he’d meet you at the station,” Pence confirms. “It’s in the building below the big clock tower at the top of the hill, you can’t miss it.”

“Thanks for the info,” Sora says gratefully.

Olette shrugs. “Least we could do. Well, we’d better get back to that assignment! It isn’t going to do itself you know!”

Pence snorts. “Oh, believe me I know…”

All five of them exit back into the alley, and Pence and Olette turn right while Sora, Azlyn, and Telary go left, running through the upward inclined street. Along their way they pass numerous people all milling about, living normal lives.

“The king is actually looking for us!” Azlyn says chipperly as they make their way along, drawing a few odd looks from passersby, not used to people being in such a hurry at this time of day. “What a reversal!”

Telary nods in agreement, swerving to avoid being run down by a teenage girl on a skateboard, a mailbag hitched over her shoulder. “It _is_ a nice change from last time, when _we_ had to find _him_. That took forever.”

They finally reach the top of a hill, a large plaza of orange brick with a fantastic view of the lower reaches of town, with a squat building that declares “Central Station” above its doors at the far end. Above that stretches an enormous tower of white stone, leading up to a massive clock face. Two golden protrusions extend from its deep maroon roof, bronze bells attached to their ends. All in all, it’s a lovely place.

Also very empty, with no king in sight.

“Well, where is he?” Azlyn asks no one in particular, rushing to the edge of the plaza and looking over the low wall. “He said he’d be here!”

“Maybe he meant _inside_ , the station,” Telary posits, also taking a look around. Sora moves to follow him, but something suddenly stops him in his tracks.

A circle of white light opens a few feet away, against the ground like someone had just dug a tunnel upwards into the plaza, black and grey wisps of thorny tendrils rising out of it in a spiral. Seconds later a creature emerges, thin and white. All four of its appendages, two arms and two legs, end in conical points rather than hands and feet. Its grey head is flat, a strange white symbol in the middle of it. Its mouth is shut, but in a second there’s a sound like a zipper opening and its mouth unseals.

Sora steps back with a nervous exclamation, and soon half-a-dozen more portals open and similar creatures emerge, swaying their arms smoothly even as their torsos and heads jerk almost spastically. They surround the trio.

On instinct, Sora reaches out his hand and calls the Keyblade, legendary weapon of the Realm of Light. It appears in his hand in a flash of light, round silver shaft with crown-shaped teeth at its end protruding from the golden handguard surrounding its grey hilt. As Sora crouches into his fighting stance, gripping the blade’s handle with both hands, the silver keychain and heart pendant dangling below the hilt sways back and forth.

Azlyn and Telary react as well, though neither of them were able to find their weapons upon emerging from the pods. Still, Telary is proficient enough in the mystic arts that he does not require a staff, and Azlyn’s fisticuffs ability renders her Disney Castle shield similarly unnecessary. Still, fighting without their signature weapons feels wrong to the pair somehow.

The creatures stalk towards the trio, their heads remaining still while their bodies propel them forward.

“What are these things?” Azlyn asks over her shoulder, still keeping a wary eye on the attackers. “Some kind of Heartless?”

Two of the husks attack, rising and jerking themselves through the air as if they’re swimming. With a committed yell, Sora swings the Keyblade down and up in two quick strokes, eliminating them in a flash of white.

“Whatever they are,” he says confidently, “They’re no match for us!”

All of the creatures attack, and a few more even appear to join in on the fray. The trio battle valiantly, Sora’s Keyblade eliminating the attackers in single strokes while Telary uses his powerful magic spells to hurl fire, ice, and rain down lightning bolts from the sky at them. Azlyn ducks and weaves around strikes from the husks’ arms, getting her own blows in on their heads when she can.

A husk twists away from Sora and he pursues, only for two more to spring up and attack, slapping into his chest with their arms as they move forward. Sora grunts in pain and swings his blade, eliminating both in one strike.

Telary calls down a bolt of lightning on a charging husk, then turns to get off a blizzard spell at the one he hears behind him, only to find that he is too slow. He feels a sharp sting as the husk knocks against his elbow, then another as a pair of them drive into him headfirst from behind.

Azlyn backflips away from a strike, but when she lands another husk slides around her feet like a slithering snake. She tries to back away, but the creature’s arm rises and smacks her in the back, sending her stumbling forward into the path of a diving creature that slams directly into her torso, driving her to the ground near Telary.

Sora fights on despite his companions falling, slashing through a husk and quickly sliding to get behind another, confusing both it and another creature that had been coming up from behind. He swipes heavy-handed in a straight vertical arc, but overcommits and stumbles forward. He pivots quickly to get back into fighting position, but he’s too slow and an arm swipe knocks him down as well.

“I guess it’s been a while,” he nervously admits to his companions, eyes warily focused on the three husks merrily dancing in front of the fallen group. Behind him, two more creatures do the same.

Suddenly the lead husk crouches down, its whole body shuddering as if in the throes of a seizing fit. Microseconds later it charges forward, diving through the air like a hurled javelin. Sora raises his Keyblade to block, despite the strain it puts on his hurting arm…

The husk doesn’t make it a foot before a small hooded figure in a black cloak leaps down, a Keyblade nigh identical to Sora’s held in its hand, though silver where Sora’s is gold and gold where Sora’s is silver. With single swipe of the reverse Keyblade, the husk explodes into white sparks.

The tiny cloaked figure’s feet barely touch the ground before he leaps again, slashing through the next white creature and twisting through the air to propel himself to the other, which he also slashes into ribbons. Two husks twist through the air after him, but he just holds out a black gloved hand and shoots out an orb of pure light that careens into the monsters and explodes.

A sudden quiet hangs over the plaza as the figure touches down, Keyblade held straight out and gleaming in the sunlight. Atop his head are two large, round ears.

Incredulous, Sora leans forward to get a better look, but Azlyn and Telary have the same idea, forcing him facefirst into the plaza’s brick.

“Your Majesty!” both Disney Castle denizens exclaim at the same moment, awed to be in the presence of the person they revere most, grateful to have been saved.

The hood turns and the pair catch a glimpse of a black nose, finger held under it at the figure’s lips. “Shhhh…” he orders, almost brusquely. “Inside the station there’s a purple train. I need you to get on it, okay?”

“Huh?” Sora asks, pushing his companions off as he rises. They fall beside him on their backs. “A train to where?”

“Just trust me, okay?” the king says in a low voice, taking a step backwards and reaching into his coat. When his hand emerges he holds a tiny orange pouch made of cloth, a golden munny coin surrounded by a field of blue on its face. Azlyn rises quickly and snatches it, enjoying the sound of jingling coins it produces. “Get on the train to the tower, alright? Don’t worry, it knows the way.”

This miffs Telary. “The train knows…” he says with a pronounced frown, hands in the pockets of his hoody. “How can a train know the way to…?”

But Mickey is already gone, running to the edge of the plaza and jumping up on the low wall then pushing off and performing a flawless triple flip. As he sinks, Azlyn runs to the wall, looking down to see him land on a roof and run across before jumping to another, then another, until finally he leaps down into the street and sprints off out of sight.

“Huh,” she says, turning from the ledge and joining her still processing friends. “Well that was weird. The king didn’t seem happy to see us at all.”

“Well, he _was_ trapped behind the Door to Darkness,” Telary points out, shrugging. “Maybe something happened to him back there.”

“Well, whatever did or didn’t happen, he’s clearly out now,” Azlyn says before turning to Sora, who is just standing there scratching his chin in thought.

“If the king got out from behind the Door to Darkness…” he says slowly, like he’s still puzzling things out in his head. He perks up with a grand smile. “Then that must mean Riku did too! After all, they were together when we closed to door, remember. Riku had to stay in the Dark Realm to make sure it got closed, and Mickey and I sealed it from both sides.”

“I think you’re absolutely correct Sora,” Telary agrees, placing his fists on his hips and beaming at his young collaborator. “All that’s left now…”

“Is to find Riku,” Sora finishes, grinning like a loon at the thought. “Once I do that, I can finally go home to the islands with him, and we can see Kairi again.” He looks from Telary to Azlyn, still beaming. “You guys can come too for a visit if you want! You’d love it, trust me.”

“That would be really great, Sora,” Azlyn agrees, also smiling brightly. “I could use some sun and surf, I think.”

“I’d really like to see my sister again,” Telary adds. “Maybe if we can spend more time together, we can put our childhood memories back the way they were before Ansem corrupted Hollow Bastion’s heart.”

“Glad to have you on board guys,” Sora says gratefully, meaning it with all of his heart. “It just wouldn’t be a journey without you two.”

“Let’s get on that train, then,” Telary says, turning towards the glass doors of the station beneath the clock tower.

Azlyn joins him, shaking the pouch Mickey had tossed to her, glad to hear the sound of jingling coins inside. Curious she stops and fingers the pouch open, finding a peculiar crystalline blue orb atop the coins inside.

“What’s that?” Sora asks, gesturing to the ball.

Azlyn shrugs, taking it out and examining it critically. “Not munny,” she says dismissively, tossing it up to Sora, who barely catches it with both hands, cupping it gently. She looks inside and does a quick speculation of the amount. “Whoa, there’s like fifty-thousand in here. Mama like…”

While the knight is busy gazing lovingly, Telary snatches the pouch from her hands, tugging on its drawstrings to close it. “This munny is probably for train tickets, Az,” he cautions the knight. “So don’t get any ideas.”

She rolls her eyes exaggeratedly. “Yes, mother.”

Sora snickers at the exchange and the trio ascend the steps up to the station doors, only to be interrupted by a loud yell from behind. Turning, Sora sees Hayner, Pence, and Olette running across the plaza.

“Wait up you guys!” Pence calls, waving his arms a bit frantically and sounding nearly out of breath. Despite the fact that the trio are virtual strangers, Sora can’t help but perk up at the sight, for some inexplicable reason glad that they’ve come.

“Uh, hello again,” Telary says with a sheepish wave. “What are you doing here? Did Azlyn take something from your hangout spot?”

Olette laughs, unintentionally heading off Azlyn’s rant at the injustice of Telary’s presumption. “No, nothing like that.”

“Just came to see you off,” Hayner says with a shrug, sounding several orders of magnitude less snippy than he had been earlier. “It felt like the right thing to do. Especially after being so rude to you, which by the way I’m sorry for. I was a jerk.”

“No problem!” Sora forgives with an easy shrug and a smile.

Olette’s eyes narrow, looking at the pouch in Telary’s hand. “Hey!” she says, reaching into her pocket and producing an identical knit bag. She holds it up so Sora’s trio can see.

“They’re the same,” Telary notes, looking from one to the other. “How funny is that?”

“Pretty,” Olette answers, frowning at the bag in her hand. “After all, I made this myself, using my own design.”

Telary opens his mouth but suddenly there’s a loud clanging from the clock tower’s bells, which for the travelling trio immediately awakens old memories of the bell atop Traverse Town’s Gizmo shop.

“It’d probably be a good idea to get your tickets,” Pence suggests with a sage nod. “Wouldn’t want to miss your train, would you?”

The group enters the small ticketing area and Sora purchases three tickets, which costs most of their pouch munny and sends Azlyn into a grumbling fit about highway robbery. After the tickets are secured, they walk up a flight of stone steps and onto the stations platforms, a huge area with several trains resting at different spots.

The one the trio wants is berthed at the very nearest dock, labeled Zero, its purple door already open and waiting.

“ _That’s_ your train?” Hayner says incredulously, arms crossed across his chest. “Wow, I never thought I’d see the day!”

“What are you talking about?” Sora asks inquisitively. “Is something wrong?”

“Local legend,” Pence explains, eyeing the purple train car with something like awe in his eyes. “People have supposedly been seeing a purple train with no driver for years. Most call it the Ghost Train.”

“Ghosts!” Telary exclaims, his arms flailing haphazardly. “Like, undead ghosts?”

Hayner snorts. “Is there any other kind?”

Azlyn rolls her eyes and steps on board the train. “The man can face down the very essence of Darkness itself, but tell him one hick superstition story and he goes all to pieces…”

“Sorry for her,” Telary apologizes with a bit of a shrug. “Um, thanks for being here guys. I hope we all see each other really soon.” With one last incline of the head, the wizard turns and boards the Ghost Train, trying to not think too hard about that moniker.

Sora steps towards the train, but something makes him stop and turn to look at Hayner, Pence, and Olette one last time. There’s a feeling in his heart, like there’s some burden he just can’t shake.

Hayner frowns at him. “Are you sure we’ve never met before?” he asks, tilting his head curiously.

The Keybearer shakes his head. “No, I’m sure of it,” he says. “I’ve never even been to this town before.” He sighs, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. He looks around at the train platforms wistfully. “And I get the feeling I’ll never see it again.”

“What?” Olette blurts out.

“Dude,” Hayner says, still calm as he places a hand on Sora’s shoulder, “You need to calm down about this, pull yourself together. There is _definitely_ no need for you to be crying.”

That miffs Sora, who is pretty sure he’s doing nothing of the sort. But, when he puts his hand to his face, he does indeed feel wetness against his fingers. He pulls them back and stares at them for a moment, a bit lost looking.

“Are you okay?” Pence asks seriously.

Sora nods, then shakes his head to get it clear and encourage Hayner to remove his hand from the Keybearer’s shoulder.

“I’m A-Okay,” he responds with a bright smile that feels forced, even to him. A complex web of emotions, sorrow chief among them, swirls around in his heart for a moment, and the worst part is that he has no idea where they’re coming from. “No idea where that came from, but it’s gone now. Honest.”

He takes a backwards step onto the train, still looking at the Twilight Town trio with an odd feeling deep inside. He gives out one last jaunty wave and grips the door’s handle, grunting as he shoves it closed.

He turns away and leans back against the door, looking listlessly around the purple car. Along both walls are thick couches of purple fabric, and windows in the shape of stars line either wall. Azlyn and Telary are seated next to each other, both staring at Sora intently.

He gives them a half-hearted grin, then sighs again, moving to take the seat opposite his companions as the train moves forward with a lurch. Outside the windows the train station rolls by, and suddenly they’re chugging along a landscape of rolling green hills beneath an orange sky.

“What is wrong with you?” Azlyn inquires, a bit more reproachfully than perhaps the situation warrants.

Sora doesn’t know specifics, but there’s one thing he _is_ sure of. “Y’know,” he admits, “I’m sad.”

Azlyn and Telary exchange a concerned look, then the wizard leans forward and smiles at the younger boy. “We’ll be back Sora,” he assures him, nodding confidently. “We can see Hayner and those guys again. It’ll be okay.”

“I guess,” Sora says with a shrug. Suddenly inspired, he reaches into his jumpsuit’s pocket and extricates the blue orb, holding it up to the sunlight streaming in the windows and watching as it shines outward. The tiny bauble feels important somehow, in the same way Hayner, Pence, and Olette did, a sense of belonging that Sora cannot for the life of him figure out the source of.

There’s a sudden flash, and all three members of the trio move to look out the windows immediately, finding themselves facing a vast expanse of stars, the gauzy green wisps of a nebulous aurora shining into the train car.

Sora grips the blue crystal orb tightly and thinks of the clear blue skies and water of his home. Thinks of the girl who is waiting for him there, and the boy he’s going to bring back to it.

Speaking of said girl, the boy sticks his hand into another pocket and produces a small, five-pointed star made of strung together shells, a gift he had been give long ago, along with a promise to return it to its maker. A promise Sora is determined to keep.

“We’re coming, Kairi,” he whispers, quietly enough so Azlyn and Telary can’t hear. “We’ll be home soon. Me and Riku both. Promise.”

**KH-KH-KH**

The cloaked and hooded Ansem stands before an open portal of Darkness atop a sunset hill in Twilight Town’s southern district. On a bench in front of him, a thin blonde girl in a white dress grips a sketchpad and cowers.

“Did you not hear what I said?” he asks gruffly, only succeeding in drawing further shivers from the scared girl. Well, the girl who is at least approximating fear. “You’re free to go, Naminé. I don’t care what DiZ wants, you deserve freedom.”

Naminé looks away, into the sunset. “I suppose so,” she says flatly. She turns back to him and looks almost worried. “It’s just that, well, now I’m not so sure what it is I’ll use that freedom _for_. I mean, I’ve been using my powers for others since I was… born. What now?”

Ansem bites his lip, grateful that his hood obscures the unsure expression. The gears of his mind turn gratingly, searching for an answer to the Nobody’s question.

“I can’t tell you that,” he decides on, though even he is not satisfied with the answer he’s presented. “But I know what it’s like to feel trapped. Maybe not in the same way you have, but…”

“And _why_ would you let me go?” the girl in white inquires biting her own lip. “You said it yourself, I’m not longer useful to your plans. You _should_ eliminate me, especially since I know who you…”

Ansem raises a gloved hand, and the girl acquiesces by snapping her mouth closed quickly.

“Let’s just say that you… Remind me of someone,” the cloaked man says plainly, unsure of what he even means by that. “And I… I’ve learned my lesson about acting selfishly and causing harm. So go, Naminé. Find a place you can truly call home.”

Naminé stands and gives Ansem a half smile. “Thank you,” she says before stepping into the dark doorway and disappearing. With a sigh, Ansem releases his power and the portal vanishes.

He barely has time to blink before another portal opens, and the red-haired Axel steps out, a smug grin on his gaunt face.

“So you _are_ just a big old softy,” he says with a mirthful chuckle, shaking his head. “Which means you can’t actually be who you say you are.”

“You should leave now too,” Ansem says dismissively, not even looking at the redheaded Nobody.

“Or what, you’ll show me mercy like you just did Naminé?”

“You should be more worried,” Ansem says warningly, a red and purple sword shaped like a bat’s wing flashing into his hand in a violet burst of light, “That I _won’t_.”

Axel snorts and nudges his nose nonchalantly, not even sparing the dark sword a chance. “Oh, give it a rest, faker! There’s no way you’re icing me after I saved your ass in Castle Oblivion. Though considering how I attempted to mess up you and Dizzy’s little scheme…”

“Speaking of,” Ansem says calmly, dismissing his weapon and crossing his arms over his chest, “What are _you_ going to do, now that your friend is gone?”

Axel gives Ansem a cheeky half-grin. “ _Gone_ , you say?” he mocks, stepping back and opening an exit portal behind him. “You and I both know he isn’t _actually_ gone. There’s a way I can get him back. All it’ll take is a little bit of planning…”

Realizing what the flame-haired Nobody is implying, Ansem calls forth his sword again and rushes him, only for Axel to take the final step back into his portal and close it.

Ansem feels his teeth grind together as the last wisps of the portal fade away. Channeling that anger, as well as the sorrow that has been his constant companion for a long time now, he opens his own portal and steps into it, his work far from over.”


	3. A New Beginning

“… Well then you can just try and spy _this_ with your little eye, eh?” Azlyn yells to Telary, performing a very rude gesture with her right hand that nearly sends the wizard into fits.

By Telary’s reckoning, it has been approximately an hour since the train departed Twilight Town, which he is just now remembering is about ten years in Azlyn time.

Sora watches his friends with fond bemusement, their antics doing more to keep him entertained during the ride than any game could. He feels much better now, like the strange sadness that was within his heart has decided that it’s time to seek greener pastures.

“Where even _are_ we?” Azlyn grumbles, resting both of her knees on the train seat’s purple cushion and looking out the star-shaped window. There’s nothing below them but a vast field of faintly glowing orange clouds, and nothing above but a dark blue, star-dotted sky. “Is this still Twilight Town? Or are we in another world.”

Telary frowns. “How could we be in another world?” he asks. “Remember that Leon said defeating the Heartless like we did would mean there couldn’t be any more travel between worlds.”

“He said the Gummi ship would be useless,” Azlyn points out, not returning her gaze to inside the car for even a moment. “But maybe there’s something about this train that makes it, y’know, pass through.”

“I guess,” Telary relents with a shrug. “Though it could be that we’re somewhere _above_ Twilight Town…”

Sora turns away from his friends’ discussion to look out his own window, and thus catches a glimpse of what lies not far away.

A small spit of land, perhaps a hundred square feet, floats above the orange clouds, large green coniferous trees obscuring most of the land. What is not obscured however, is a large tower rising into the air, curving in the middle like a partially bent pipe. There are several protrusions jutting from the structure, and a large conical roof of dull sea-green sits atop it, several weather vanes in the shape of stars and crescent moons swaying gently in a breeze.

“Uh guys,” Sora says, drawing his friends’ attention to his side, “I think we’re almost there.”

The Ghost Train slides to a smooth stop in a gap between tree clusters, and by the time its door glides open, the trio are ready to immediately disembark.

The tower looks even bigger from this perspective, looming over the eager travelers. At the bottom of the keep, standing on the top step in front of the tower’s wooden door, is a large figure in a red and blue jumpsuit, unflatteringly hugging its broad chest and pot belly.

Without hesitation, Azlyn approaches the stranger, and sees that he’s peering in through the wooden double doors, body language indicating that he’s cautiously waiting for someone or something. Sora follows after her, leaving Telary behind to notice the Ghost Train disappear in a flash of light.

“Well, there goes our ride,” he mumbles to himself, swallowing deeply and nervously.

Coming closer, the stranger’s jumpsuit is revealed to be more like a red shirt and black pants held up by blue suspenders crossing each other across his back, leading up to blue armored pauldrons on his shoulders. A comically large silver zipper runs from the top of his pants to beneath his groin, continuing up to the pants’ front. His head is hidden by the slump of his broad shoulders, but two catlike ears stick up.

“What are you doing?” Azlyn calls up to the stranger, cocking her head as she examines the strange creature. “Come to pick up a date, but she stood you up?”

There’s an irritated growl from the creature, deep, gruff, and obviously masculine. “For your information, lassie, I sent my minions in there to see if this tower’s master is really as tough as they say,” he informs the trio, not turning back to look at them yet. “Y’see, I’m looking for a bodyguard, and I hear he’s some kinda hoity toity sorcerer type, real powerful one.” A shrug. “But that don’t matter to me one bit. After all, once he’s a Heartless, he’ll _have_ to do what I say!”

The mention of such vile creatures as the Heartless sets the entire trio on edge, shivers starting at the bases of their spines and shooting upwards.

“Whaddya mean ‘Heartless’, Tubby?” Azlyn demands indignantly.

The stranger’s shoulders slump once again, annoyed. “The Heartless are creatures that come outta the Darkness in folk’s hearts,” he explains with a hint of gloating. “I can control ‘em, y’see, on account of my boss Maleficent!”

That name carries its own terror for the trio. During their first journey together, Maleficent had been their chief antagonist, leading a coalition of villains and a hoard of Heartless in a plot to rule the universe with the power of the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts.

But Maleficent had been defeated, Sora’s Keyblade having pierced the evil hag’s black heart. Obviously this man was laboring under the impression that the dark woman still lived.

“I owe Maleficent a debt, y’see, after she got me outta some trouble a long ways back,” the stranger continues to explain. “And now as payment, I’m going around to different worlds and roundin’ up a whole new army of Heartless! Yessiree, in no time at all we’ll have enough of them guys to devour all light everywhere!”

“Well, that doesn’t sound very nice at all,” Telary comments. “Maybe there’s something better you could be doing with your time!”

This seems to give the rotund creature pause, and he turns around to look down at the meddling trio, revealing two more crossed blue suspenders across his chest and the rest of his pants’ zipper. The jowls of his large face shake with anger, and his black furred brow is narrowed. There’s something of an anthropomorphized catlike quality to his appearance.

Azlyn and Telary let out simultaneous loud gasps, and Sora looks from one to the other for an explanation.

“I can’t believe this!” Telary yells aloud, obviously quite stunned.

“It’s _you_!” Azlyn adds with a hint of menace, pointing threateningly at the strange figure.

“Uh, yeah it’s me!” the cat-creature growls, waving a hand through the air. It’s covered in a purple fingerless glove, a pale purple bump at each knuckle. “Who are you pipsqueaks?”

Azlyn steps forward, fists clenched meaningfully. “We’re a knight and wizard of Disney Castle, moron!” she announces, and it’s the stranger’s turn to look taken aback. “So you’d better believe we know all about _you_ , Pete!”

Sora steps forward, his arms waving to get some attention. “Uh, _I_ don’t know all about him!” he reminds his companions. “Who is this guy?”

“A real lowlife,” Azlyn replies in a low, disgusted tone. “He spent years at the top of the Mouseburg most wanted list before he got caught.”

“As punishment for his crimes, King Mickey banished him to a pocket dimension,” Telary adds, still eyeing the villain warily. “He must have escaped somehow…”

“You bet yer britches I did!” Pete gloats, laughing throatily. “Maleficent busted me out, y’see, and now _all_ worlds are gonna belong to yours truly!”

“What makes you say that?” Sora asks with a hint of a threat.

“Why, Maleficent’s gonna help me conquer ‘em,” Pete replies like it’s the most obvious thing in the universe. “She’s got power you bird brains couldn’t begin to imagine!”

Azlyn snorts. “Oh, we can imagine it alright,” she says with a dismissive shrug. “Too bad it’s not gonna be any help to you now.”

Pete’s brow furrows in confusion, his tough sneer replaced by a look of uncertainty. “And just what do you mean by that?”

“Well, the thing about Maleficent, Pete, is that we…” Telary begins to explain.

“That old witch is toast!” Sora interrupts, grinning proudly as he places his hands heroically on his hips. “I got her right through her nasty ol’ heart!”

“Last time we saw her she was just a black cloak and a scuff on the floor!” Azlyn adds with satisfaction. “Sorry to ruin your big plans, but you’re on your own now!”

Pete’s eyes narrow, and his entire body begins to shake with rage. “How dare you disrespect Maleficent like that!” he roars, raising one clenched fist. “You’ll pay for what you did! Heartless squad, round up!”

Azlyn snorts again. “I hate to break it to you, but we wasted the Heartless too!”

Telary gulps nervously, his eyes fixed on the base of the tower. “Uh, I hate to break it to _you_ , Azlyn, but that may not be true!”

The knight follows Telary’s point to the grass beside to stairs up to the tower, where on either side squat creatures of inky black Darkness rise from the ground, flexing small but sharp claws. Their yellow eyes peer at their surroundings before focusing on the trio. Noiselessly, they begin to march forward.

Sora summons the Keyblade and leaps towards a trio of Shadows, eliminating all of them in a single swing. Another group goes after Azlyn and Telary, but the wizard takes care of them all with a pair of magical lightning bolts.

Shocked to see his minions so easily dispatched, Pete decides to take matters into his own hands. With a loud yell of defiance, he charges down the steps, barreling straight for Azlyn and Telary.

Sora notices with time to intercept, leaping in front of his friends and swinging the Keyblade into Pete’s midsection. There’s a loud gasp of surprise and pain from the fat cat, and he falls to his side in the grass, rolling a few feet before he comes to a stop. Still scowling, he laboriously rises to his feet.

“Wow,” Sora comments to Azlyn with a smirk. “That was almost embarrassingly easy, huh?” The knight nods in agreement.

“You brats just wait!” Pete rages, bent over and breathing heavily, but looking at the trio with fire blazing in his eyes. “Nobody, and I mean it when I say _nobody_ , messes with the mighty Pete, y’hear?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Azlyn says dismissively, rolling her eyes.

“I am curious, though,” Sora chimes in, crossing his arms and looking at Pete inquisitively. “Who lives in this tower anyway?”

Pete looks for a moment like he can’t believe what he just heard, but soon that turns into a smirk. “Oh, you don’t know, eh?” he chuckles throatily, straightening out his back to rise to his full height, a few inches taller than Telary. “This tower is the home of ol’ Yen Sid. ‘Course, by now he probably…”

“Did you say Yen Sid?” Telary asks, sounding frantic as he takes a step toward Pete. “The sorcerer Yen Sid is the person who lives here in this tower?”

“Uh, yeah,” Pete replies.

“Oh my goodness!” Telary exclaims, practically leaping into the air with joy. He turns and makes a beeline to the tower’s doors “I can’t believe… I never thought… I mean…” Pushing the doors open, the wizard barrels inside.

“What was that about?” Sora asks Azlyn with a raised eyebrow.

“Yen Sid is the guy who taught the king to use magic,” she explains. “He trained Master Donald some too, and Telary basically thinks he’s the biggest thing ever. He’s got a poster and everything, it’s embarrassing.”

“Still, if he trained the king and royal wizard of your castle, he must be pretty powerful,” Sora notes. “Maybe he has information on the king too.”

Azlyn nods. “Yeah. Plus, we really should make sure Telary doesn’t embarrass himself too much in front of his idol.”

“Agreed.”

The pair take off after their companion, pushing the doors even wider and entering the tower’s foyer. Pete watches the whole thing, mouth agape. Realizing he’s been relegated to a non-priority, he clenches his teeth and shakes his fists, grunting and raging all the while.

“Oh, it can’t be true, what they said,” the fat cat mutters nervously to himself, once he’s calmed down. “Maleficent was… Maleficent _is_ the most powerful lady in the universe! No way could those low brow brats beat her!” He crosses his arms over his barrel chest and nods once, confidently. “Right?”

A loud _caw_ echoes above, and Pete looks up to see a black raven fly through the air, its wings beating slowly as it makes its way across the sky. It turns and circles twice, looks down and Pete, and flies up to land at a high tower window.

Pete frowns at the bird, the sight of which has sent something spinning around in his head, something Maleficent said a long time ago…

After a laborious few seconds, the thought lands, and Pete’s face lights up in a satisfied grin. Rubbing his hands together and chuckling, he opens a swirling portal of Darkness.

Back in the tower, Azlyn and Sora finally catch up to their wizardly companion on a flight of stairs floating high in the air. A portal down in the tower’s foyer had lead them to the bottom of a vast space, far too vast to exist within the tower. From there they’d ran from staircase to staircase, defeating a few Heartless leftover by Pete from time to time, until they’d finally found Telary.

“I’m a _mess_!” the wizard laments upon seeing them, nervously running his hands through his hair. “I mean, here I am about to meet _the_ Yen Sid, and I haven’t had a second to…” He looks at Azlyn pleadingly. “Tell me you have something to fix me up!”

The knight shoots her counterpart a perturbed frown. “What makes you think I have anything for you to groom yourself with?”

He shrugs. “Well, you had that hair tie, so…”

“Well Telary, I’m afraid I left the rest of the salon in my _other_ jacket, sorry.”

“Guys,” Sora says, interrupting his companions’ powwow. They turn to look at the Keybearer. “What’s with this giant space in here? I mean, the tower was big, but…”

“Yen Sid is the most powerful sorcerer in all worlds, Sora,” Telary explains, his tone reminding Sora of his elementary school teachers. “Perhaps only Genie has more power than he does. It would honestly be a simple matter for him to magically construct a space that is larger inside than out. Universal laws don’t matter much to such a powerful practitioner of the mystic arts.”

“Speaking of laws,” Azlyn breaks in, “What’s with Pete being able to call up so many Heartless? I thought we beat those guys when we closed to Door to Darkness.”

Telary shrugs. “Maybe we didn’t put the worlds at as much peace as we thought.”

Sora’s shoulders droop, the picture he had in his mind of running along warm sands with his best friends fading out. “Great, another obstacle in getting home.”

“Aw, cheer up Sora!” Telary says with an encouraging clap on the younger boy’s shoulder. “Let’s wait and see what Yen Sid has to say, huh?”

The trio continue on up a few floating stairways, finally reaching one with a door at the end, a yellow cone glowing at eye height. Telary opens it and the trio enter a large, circular room, book shelves to either side. In the middle of the room sits a large oak desk, a skull sitting on its edge, melted wax from a lit candle obscuring most of its details.

Behind the desk in a high-backed chair sits a man in a blue robe, a long grey beard flowing down from his chin to his chest. His face is lightly wrinkled beneath a large conical hat of purple cloth, yellow stars and moons glowing upon it. It reminds Sora of the hat he had seen in Disney Castle’s High Tower, which had controlled the castle’s enchanted mop servants.

Telary falls immediately to his hands and knees before the sorcerer, gaze fixed on the green carpet beneath him. Azlyn sighs and rolls her eyes at the obsequious display.

“Oh great and powerful Master Sorcerer Yen Sid,” he says in a tone of awe and reverence, “We humbly and respectfully greet thee…”

“Nice hat you got there,” Sora says flippantly. Without even looking, Telary sends his leg back to lightly knock the Keybearer on the shin. Sora yelps in pain and surprise, drawing laughter from Azlyn.

“I am _trying_ to have a moment here, guys!” Telary snaps at his companions before standing up to look at Yen Sid. “I apologize for my colleagues, sir. You see, they…”

Yen Sid only chuckles and shakes his head. “It is quite alright, Telary. I am glad to see Sora, and you two as well.”

That his biggest hero in all the worlds knows his name nearly sends Telary back to the floor, but he manages to keep composed.

“Now, have you seen the king yet?” the wizened old man asks gently.

“Well, kind of sir,” Telary answers with a shrug. “But it was only very briefly. He told us to get on the train to see you and then he ran off.”

“Is he on some kind of mission from you?” Azlyn asks.

“No, I have not given him any direct instructions in many years,” Yen Sid answers with a hint of an amused chuckle. “But nonetheless, His Majesty has been very busy of late. Which means the task of preparing you for your next journey falls to me.”

Sora frowns at the sorcerer’s words. Hasn’t he done enough questing for a lifetime already? “But Master Yen Sid, I was actually looking forward to going back home to my islands,” he says, a bit pouty. “Once I find my friend Riku, of course.”

Yen Sid gives the Keybearer a paternal smile. “Yes, I know that you miss your home, and your friend as well. But in the end, all things are connected, even this quest you must face. And you are the key to it all.”

Sora holds his hand up parallel to the floor, and in a flash the Keyblade appears in his grip. “The key,” he repeats thoughtfully.

“Yen Sid, Master,” Azlyn breaks in, shouldering Sora aside to stand before the sorcerer, “Why are there still so many Heartless around. I thought we defeated them by closing the Door to Darkness.”

“Your previous effort managed to prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the Dark Realm,” Yen Sid explains. “If the Door to Darkness had remained unsealed, it surely would have been a fatal blow to the Realm of Light.” He sighs deeply and scratches his beard. “But Heartless are creatures of pure Darkness, and thus as long as Darkness exists in a single heart, their elimination is all but impossible.”

“Bummer,” Azlyn mutters lowly to herself.

“The only way the Heartless can know final defeat is if all hearts were filled with naught but Light.”

“Like Kairi’s,” Telary says. “And the other six Princesses of Heart.” The thought of his sister, long unknown to him, fills the wizard with a deep sense of longing. Sora shares the sentiment, though in a different way.

“But the Heartless may not be your greatest threat,” Yen Sid says, shocking the trio back to attention. The sorcerer waves his hand, and in a circle of light appears a three-dimensional image of one of the odd being that had attacked them in the plaza. “This,” he announces, “is a Nobody. A creature of Nothing.”

“What do you mean?” Azlyn asks, eyeing the projection warily. “How can something be made of nothing?”

“You are aware of the process that produces a Heartless, yes?” Yen Sid asks.

“When someone lets their heart fall to Darkness, and is consumed by it, a Heartless is created,” Telary rattles off like a fact he learned in kindergarten.

“Very good, Telary,” Yen Sid says with an air of congratulations, which makes the young wizard’s heart actually flutter for a moment. “However, there is more to it. You see, when someone with a strong will, whether they be evil or good, is turned into a Heartless, the shell they leave behind begins to act on its own. Their spirits persist even as their bodies fade. You see, Nobodies do not even truly exist. They are devoid of all feeling, cold as stone.”

“No feelings,” Sora mumbles to himself. Somehow that statement rings false to him, like an alarm quietly going off in the back of his head. But if a sorcerer as great as Yen Sid says it is so, it must be. Right?

“These are Dusks,” Yen Sid continues, gesturing again to the white creatures. “The most common form of Nobodies, though by no means the only. There are others, larger and more powerful than these. But by the far the worst form a Nobody can take… Is this!”

The image fades out in a flash, replaced with a new projection: A tall figure in a black coat, hood up to conceal its face. Something about the outfit stirs in Sora, a twinge of fear and familiarity…

“These are Organization XIII,” Yen Sid announces, looking grimly at the image. “The most powerful Nobodies of all, they have managed to retain their human forms.”

“So they’re actual people?” Sora asks, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Yen Sid shakes his head. “Nobodies such as they may sometimes seem to have feelings, yes,” he says. “But this is naught but a ruse. Nobodies lack hearts, and therefore the ability to truly emote like real people. You must never forget this, as they _will_ do their level best to deceive you.”

Telary frowns. “Master, when we saw the king, he was wearing one of these coats,” he says nervously, turning to face the sorcerer. “Why would he do that?”

Yen Sid leans back in his chair and clasps his hands together. “Nobodies are not like the Heartless in nature. The Heartless act only on instinct, unless directed by another. But Nobodies are capable of vastly more planning. Organization XIII seeks completion of some terrible goal, though we do not know what that may be.”

“So the king is wearing that robe to infiltrate them right?” Azlyn asks, thinking on how cool it is that King Mickey is engaged in a spy thriller plot.

“Mickey is dedicated to solving the riddle of Organization XIII, yes,” Yen Sid replies. “We must be able to learn what their master plan is if we are going to defeat it.”

“So we’ve gotta find the king, huh?” Sora says, perking up a bit. “And he must know where Riku is, because they were together behind the Door to Darkness when I sealed it.”

“It seems you have set your goals for this new journey,” Yen Sid says with a pleased expression. His eyes rove over Sora for a moment, and he frowns. “Though it seems that you will need more… suitable garments for your travels.”

Sora looks down at his attire, ignoring Azlyn’s unsubtle snickering as best he can. The garments are a little on the tight side, and inspecting his jacket he even notices a tear along his right sleeve, where the material must have stretched too tightly during combat.

“Yeah, I guess I could use a new look,” he admits sheepishly.

Yen Sid smiles and waves to his right. There’s a flash of light, and suddenly a large green door appears in the wall. “This is the wardrobe,” he explains. “Inside you will find three good fairies who I am sure will happily assist you.”

With a quick round of Telary-prompted thanks, the trio sets out through the door, walking along a short hallway.

“Can you believe we’re probably gonna to have to save the universe again?” Azlyn sighs as they go.

“Hey, no worries,” Sora reassures his companion, shrugging confidently. “Me, you guys, Riku and the king, all working together. There’s no way we can lose with the six of us.”

Telary frowns. “Uh, Sora,” he sheepishly brings up. “You only said five names.”

The Keybearer frowns back at the wizard, realizing his mistake. “Oh yeah. Weird.”

“Just what we need,” Azlyn says with a sigh, pushing open the double doors at the hall’s end. “A brain-damaged Keyblade master.”

The room they enter is small, made even more cramped by the presence of six mirrors of various sizes, all covered in sheets. High above is a star-shaped window, and another tall window runs up the back wall, giving a glimpse of the murky starlight above the tower.

By the window stand three short, plump ladies in capes, hats, and dressed identical in every way but color stand huddled around, whispering something amongst themselves. Tiny wings poke out from each lady’s back.

Hearing the new arrivals, the three fairies turn around. Upon seeing Sora, grins burst out on each of their faces.

“Oh, would you look at that, girls!” says the fairy in blue. “Master Yen Sid has sent us a project!”

“Oh, it has been so long since we’ve had a chance to do any designing,” the green fairy practically coos.

“Now, now girls, let us introduce ourselves,” the red fairy commands, looking sternly at her cohorts. She turns back to the heroic trio with a smile. “My name is Flora.”

“I’m Fauna,” says the green fairy.

“Merryweather,” the blue fairy says already stepping forward. With the hem of her dress falling so low, it seems as if she glides across the wardrobe’s wooden floor to Sora.

Merryweather and the other fairies all reach Sora and grab various parts of him, pulling him forward away from his slightly amused friends.

“Ow!” the Keybearer cries as he feels a pressure across his posterior. “What was that for?”

“Oh, sorry, just checking measurements, dear,” Merryweather, the apparent wiseacre of the group, claims. Sora barely hears the apology over Azlyn’s uproarious laughter. “We wouldn’t want your pants falling down out there, now would we?”

With Sora finally situated in the middle of the room, the fairies gather once more, facing him with tiny golden wands out and ready.

“Oh, we are going to make you the finest garments ever to travel the worlds, my boy!” Flora declares confidently.

“I’m doing the designing!” Fauna says chipperly, waving her wand and sending a blast of sparkling green energy over to Sora.

The spell hits, but the only thing that happens is his outfit changes color, all pieces becoming forest green. Azlyn’s laughter resumes.

“Oh, that will never do!” Merryweather chides her sister, head shaking as she steps forward, wand at the ready. “I’ll make it blue!”

Another sparkly blast hits, and when this one fades, Sora’s clothes are still too small, and now much too blue as well.

“What kind of…? It should be _pink_ , Merryweather!” Flora declares, waving her wand and transforming Sora’s clothes to the aforementioned color. Merryweather doesn’t like that one bit, and in a flash Sora is blue again, which gets Fauna started and makes his outfit green.

From there it becomes something of a free for all, the fairies seeming to barely notice anything but what color Sora’s clothes are not. One burst of blue energy even hits Telary, dying his clothes a new shade. Telary gapes down at his changed outfit, horrified that there might have been a split second in which that spell had made him naked.

Up above, perched just outside the star-shaped window, the black raven watches as the color war rages.

Due to what’s happening to Sora and Telary, Azlyn’s laughter has reached a pitch that probably only dogs could hear, the knight doubled over from laughing so hard, her face nearly red. That’s just as well, because a stray blast from Flora makes the rest of her outfit a matching shade.

“Alright that’s enough!” the knight declares, striding up to Sora’s side and peering intently down at the fairies, who at this point are all cowering a bit. “Now you three oversized Tinker Bells better put me together a decent outfit, or I’ll come over there and stuff those wands where I _know_ you do not want them to be stuffed. Understood?”

There’s a beat of sheer silence, the fairies trading nervous glances with one another. Finally, Flora turns to face the enraged knight.

“Very well then,” the pink fairy says. “I suppose it would be for the best if we all would work together, hm.”

Azlyn nods. “It sure would. Telary, step up here!” The wizard follows his counterpart’s instructions swiftly.

“Now, all together dears!” Flora commands. As one, the three fairies rear back their wands, gathering energy at their golden tips, and then wave them forward, sending a twisting swirl of magic at the trio. It hits Sora and spreads out, enveloping all three in white light.

When the light fades, all three have new, matching traveling clothes.

Instead of a single red jumpsuit, Sora now wears a navy blue shirt with a red patch at the bottom and shorts, mostly black but with an area around his crotch a shade or two lighter. The shorts’ hems thankfully fall further below the knee than his jumpsuit had even when it fit him perfectly, landing about halfway up the ankle. His hooded jacket is black with white lining, silver metal pieces at each shoulder. His fingerless gloves are black with a white X across the back of his hands, and a yellow band near his wrists. Two yellow belts cross in another X below his navy blue belt, and a red pouch with a black X on it sits on each hip. His shoes are black with yellow high-tops, their soles silver. His silver crown pendant remains around his neck.

Telary’s outfit isn’t too much different, black pants with yellow cuffs at the bottom, shoes nigh-identical to Sora’s. Above his pants’ yellow belt is a dark navy blue long-sleeved shirt, a sleeveless black hoodie with a yellow zipper over it. On his hands are black fingerless gloves like Sora’s. Looking down the wizard notices that fixed in a yellow loop is his magician’s staff, same as he had known it in Disney Castle. He smiles down at it, glad to have his weapon back.

Azlyn’s skirt is now black with yellow lining, white tights stretching down to her ankles beneath it. She wears a navy blue sleeveless shirt, a hooded short-sleeved jacket over it. The jacket’s yellow zipper is situated to the right, bringing the jacket’s left side over most of her chest. Her fingerless black gloves reach her elbow, three horizontal strips of metal across the back of her hands, with a third running down most of her forearms. Like Telary, her blue Disney Castle shield, emblazoned with the three black circles of King Mickey’s house emblem, rests connected to a magnetic sheath on her jacket’s back.

The trio spend considerable time focused on the new duds, looking both themselves and the others over thoroughly, almost too impressed for words. After they’re done gawking, the trio draw their weapons and face the three good fairies.

“Oh, don’t you all look so magnificent!” Fauna coos proudly, her glittering smile shining on her face.

“So dashing!” Merryweather concurs.

“Now, these clothes have many new and exciting properties,” Flora informs the trio. She waves her wand and a yellow orb appears before Sora, who looks at it cautiously. “Don’t be afraid dear, just take the orb.”

Sora reaches out and brushes the floating sphere. It glows for a second, then seems to absorb into his body. For a moment, nothing happens.

“What the heck was that?” Azlyn asks, stepping forward and brushing against the Keybearer.

Sora feels a sudden strange surge throughout his body, like he’d been jolted by lightning. He sees a brief flash of white and suddenly memories he’s made with Azlyn seem to fly through his mind.

He looks down to see that his outfit has gone red, white, and black, with a fleur-de-lis on each pant leg and jacket sleeve. In his right hand he holds the Kingdom Key, but in his left is Oathkeeper, the silver Keyblade created by connecting Kairi’s thalassa shell charm to it.

“Two Keyblades!” Telary exclaims. “Azlyn, do you see…?” Looking to his left, the wizard sees that his counterpart is gone. “Ah! What happened to…?”

“That’s how the clothes work, dear,” Merryweather explains. “To access the new forms and powers these garments can provide, you’ll need to temporarily call upon the hearts of your friends.”

“But where did she go?” Sora asks, both Keyblades’ chains shaking as he shrugs. “And how can I get back…”

There’s another flash and suddenly Azlyn returns, looking dazed and confused.

“Azlyn, are you okay?” Telary asks, rushing to the knight’s side and looking into her eyes, which she rolls at him.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she declares, only a tad shakily. “I had kind of an out-of-body experience for a second there, but I could still tell what was going on, y’know, out here.”

“You’ll need all of these powers if you’re going to survive this journey,” Fauna says with a knowing nod. “And you shall discover even more throughout your travels.”

“Well, believe me when I say I owe you,” Sora earnestly tells the trio of fairies, who all giggle and blush. “Seriously, thank you so much.”

“Same from me,” Telary agrees.

“And me,” Azlyn declares. “Though you could’ve skipped that whole flying colors thing…”

“We’re only just glad to be of service, my dears,” Flora says, and each of the fairies give a curtsy. “Now you run along back to Yen Sid, children. He has one last gift for you!”

After more thanks, the trio return to Yen Sid’s main chamber to find the sorcerer standing by a large moon-shaped window that Sora is sure had not been there before. For a moment there is nothing but the abyss below the tower’s island, but suddenly the familiar orange and yellow form of the Gummi ship, the vessel that allows interworld travel to occur, rises into view.

“Baby!” Telary cries out in ecstasy, rushing to the window and peering out at the vessel, his nose pressed to the window’s glass. Yen Sid laughs at his antics, and he backs up, his cheeks enflamed.

“Wow, it’s nice to have the Gummi ship back,” Sora says, thinking of how the trio had left it in Hollow Bastion while they used a portal created by the Princesses of Heart to reach the End of Worlds, stronghold of the Heartless and entrance to the Realm of Darkness. “But what good is it going to do? The walls between the worlds went up when I sealed the Door to Darkness. How will we get anywhere?”

“It is true that the worlds have returned to their previous, disconnected states due to your past endeavor,” Yen Sid admits. “But they have also prepared new paths between them, paths that you need only use the Keyblade to unlock.”

“So, like the Keyholes,” Azlyn says, earning a sagely nod.

“When a beam of light radiates from the Keyblade, return to the Gummi ship,” the sorcerer instructs. “And beware, for the Heartless and Nobodies may attempt to corrupt these paths by linking them to the corridors of darkness they use to travel the worlds.”

“It’s always _something_ , huh?” Sora deadpans.

“Indeed.” Yen Sid reaches into his sleeve and produces a small device with two buttons on it. He hands it off to Telary, who examines it in his hand. “I have taken the liberty of installing a device on your ship that will allow you to instantaneously travel from your vessel to the surface of a world, eliminating the need to make landfall.”

“A teleporter!” Azlyn exclaims. “That’s awesome! Thank you Master Yen Sid.”

The sorcerer nods in reply, then looks over the trio once more, a serious expression on his face. Noticing this, Telary straightens up to stand at attention, coughing suggestively to his companions to follow suit. They do, and all three stand ramrod straight before Yen Sid.

“You must never forget, my children, that just as the worlds are connected, so too are our hearts,” he says sagely. “You must remember this, and rely on the strength of those connections to see you through.” He smiles. “That is all the information I can give you now. Go forth, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary. Everyone is waiting.”

“Thank you once again for everything, Master,” Sora says, and the trio simultaneously snap off a quick salute to the sorcerer before Telary reaches presses the main button on the teleportation receiver, vanishing the group in a flash of light.

**KH-KH-KH**

Something flashes past the window, catching Merryweather by surprise and nearly sending her stumbling back into Fauna, who is doing a bit of fixing up around the wardrobe.

“Oh, excuse me Merryweather,” the green fairy apologizes. Noticing the baffled look on her fellow fairy’s face, she decides to ask her about it. “Are you alright, dear? You look like you’ve just seen a…”

_Cawwww caw!_

The window flies open, its glass panes billowing outward. Through it flies a jet black raven clutching a black cloak with purple trim in its talons. With another fearful cry, it hovers into the room and drops the cloak on the floor before the trio of fairies.

“That cloak!” Flora cries, dropping the basket of sewing she had been attending to. “Oh no, it can’t be…”

Suddenly memories begin to flood the minds of the trio, memories of a dark figure whose existence has haunted their dreams since they could ever remember. Jade skin, cruel horns, a wicked laugh…

The memories, wrapped in the ambient magic that Yen Sid’s tower is full of, begin to take on a life of their own, gaining solidity and hold in reality. As they do, the black cloak seems to fill itself, rising from the floor propelled by some large mass hidden beneath its fabric.

“What should we do, Flora?” Merryweather desperately pleads to the pink fairy, taking several cautious steps back from the slowly rising cloak.

Flora thinks for the briefest of moments before finding a solution. “We have to tell Master Yen Sid. He’ll know what to do about… about _her_!”

Agreeing that it’s a good idea, the fairies flee through the wardrobe’s open door. Merryweather holds up the rear, and as she scrambles out, she hears the opening notes of a chillingly familiar, terrifying laugh.

Unable to help herself, she turns to see that the cloak is now filled by a green skinned woman with long purple fingernails. In her left hand she clutches a long, thin staff topped with a green orb. Black horns jut from her head.

“Why, hello my dear little fairy,” the woman says with an air of smug superiority. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“M-Ma-Mali-…” Merryweather stammers, backing up slowly. “Maleficent!” Turning, the blue fairy flees.

Maleficent, mistress of all evil, laughs as her pet lands upon her shoulder, the sound of sheer madness filling the air.


	4. Work In Progress

After a moment of nothing but bright blue light filling their fields of vision, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary open their eyes to find themselves in the familiar area of the Gummi ship’s mid-level deck/living area. Two doors rest in the left wall of the square room, one that leads into the hallway where the cabins are located, the other into the kitchen, and a third is across the room in the recesses of the right wall, where the gym is located. Two separate round tables, each surrounded by four chairs, rest on the huge square rug in the center of the room. At one end of the space is a ladder leading down to the ship’s cargo bay, and at the other another ladder that accesses the cockpit.

“It’s the same,” Azlyn points out as the trio step off the teleporter, a square metal platform with three recessed circles on its face. “I mean, this is the exact same ship we flew last time.”

“And…?” Sora asks, puzzled by his companion’s seeming disappointment. He’s loved the Gummi ship ever since he first laid eyes on it, the feeling of knowing that it could traverse the stars.

The knight shrugs. “I just thought there might be something more, I dunno, _magical_ about it,” she admits, heading for the kitchen already.

“You aren’t going to cook, are you?” Sora asks nervously. Out of the corner of his eye he spots Telary moving for the cockpit ladder.

“Well, I’ve gotta eat something!” she shoots back huffily, pushing open the door. “It feels like I haven’t eaten in months!”

A low rumble in the pit of Sora’s stomach reminds the Keybearer all too well that he feels much the same way, but the thought of appeasing his hunger with an Azlyn-made delicacy doesn’t exactly get him excited. There had been a reason Telary had done most of the cooking on the last journey.

Something stirs in his shorts’ pocket, and a moment later Jiminy Cricket leaps onto the floor, holding his journal in one gloved hand.

“Uh, hi Jiminy,” Sora greets the chronicler hesitantly. The former conscience had been so quiet during their time in Twilight Town that Sora had almost forgotten he was along for the ride. And how had he switched from the pocket of Sora’s old clothes to the new?

Jiminy nods a greeting and hops over to the nearest table, taking out a pen and apparently starting a new journal entry. Sora watches him for a moment, then decides to see if Telary needs any help in the cockpit. After all, Sora had tried his hand at flying several times during the last journey.

The cockpit is another square area underneath a transparent dome of glass-like Gummis. Three chairs sit in a triangle formation, and a long couch is up against the port side. In front of the pilot’s chair is a massive computer board, the ship’s steering yoke connected by a long metal arm. Telary stands above the board, pressing buttons in what seems to be a diagnostic test run.

“How is it?” Sora asks, taking a seat in the right-hand passenger chair and leaning back casually, hands interlocked behind his head, cradling it. “Everything like normal.”

Telary doesn’t look up from his tests. “So far, so good,” he says, sounding distant and distracted.

Sora has always felt fascinated watching Telary, normally more nervous than anything, be so focused and calm when it came to running the Gummi ship. Even when they had faced an armada of Heartless ships escaping from Hollow Bastion, the wizard had remained cool and collected. It’s one of the things Sora really admires about his older companion.

“Okay,” Telary says, taking a step back and giving the board a last lookover. He turns to Sora with a smile. “I think everything is ready to go. As soon as Azlyn gets up here…”

An enormous belch from belowdecks cuts him off, and moments later the knight-in-question emerges from the ladder. Seeing the boys looking at her, she just shrugs and saunters over to the lefthand passenger seat.

“We’re ready, then,” Telary says with an obvious sigh in his tone. He sits down in the pilot’s seat and inputs a few commands, the ship shaking with a surge of power when he does. He reaches up and grabs his safety harness, buckling it over himself as Sora and Azlyn do the same.

With a grin that could be described as debonair, Telary takes the steering rods in his hands and takes them up into the star-speckled sky above Yen Sid’s tower. Within a minute, they are back in Gummi space.

Even after all the time he’d spent in it, Sora can’t help but be impressed by the serene blue and green swirl of the ocean between worlds. Not when he knows that waiting out there are thousands of worlds he has never seen before, as well as places he has visited and may yet again.

And, of course, his home on Destiny Islands awaits his return, as does Kairi. That thought is the one he can’t help but be most occupied by.

“How do we know where we’re going?” Azlyn asks, frowning out into the void. She is not quite as easily impressed as the Keybearer.

Telary takes a moment to study a display monitor. “There’s only one signature showing up on our scopes that’s consistent with that of a world,” he says, pressing another button. Information pertaining to their destination begins to flash across the screen, and the wizard’s face lights up in a smile as it does. “And it’s a world we know!”

“Where?” Sora asks, leaning forward in his seat, hands in his lap.

“Azlyn and I’s homeworld,” the wizard says as they rocket off to their destination. “Hollow Bastion.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Pete wanders through blue stone canyons, calling softly for his mistress.

“Maleficent!” he cries, the desperate word echoing off the walls surrounding him. It’s upsetting that this is what he’s been reduced to after finding the citadel his mistress had directed him to find her at swarming with construction workers instead of Heartless.

This location, far away from the castle in a barren wasteland, was given to him as a backup, just in case something were to have happened in his absence. That certainly seems the case.

“Maleficent!” the fat cat calls once again, stepping out of a narrow canyon and into a wide open space of purple rock surrounded by a steep gorge. It’s shockingly empty for an emergency staging area. No Heartless, no weapons…

No Maleficent…

“Maybe they really did finish her off,” Pete frets to himself, taking a deep, mournful swallow at the thought of the woman who had saved him and literally promised him the world in exchange for loyalty truly being gone. And done in by a bunch of punk kids from Disney Castle too! Is there no justice in the universe?

But then again, he had seen the raven back at Yen Sid’s tower, a sure sign that Maleficent is ready and waiting to meet once more. After nearly two years without speaking, had he somehow managed to misinterpret the sign?

Rubbing at his forehead, hot to the touch from all his overthinking, Pete stumbles back to take a seat on a blue rock jutting out of the ground, taking a moment to relax after his strenuous walk through the canyons.

“What am I gonna do without her?” he wonders aloud, a tear coming to his eye. He reaches up and wipes it away with a sniffle. “She was my ticket to the big time! Why, if Maleficent ain’t around…”

“You are nothing,” a familiar, cruel voice echoes throughout the canyon, perking Pete’s small ears and filling his heart with hope. After all this time, could it really be…?

There’s a sudden sound of howling wind, and in an instant a round portal of black and swirling purple forms in front of Pete from the thin air, a perfect circle of Darkness. A faint green glow shines at the middle, steadily becoming larger and brighter before breaking away from the gateway entirely. The light begins to enlarge and darken, and when it finally fades, Maleficent stands before her minion once more.

“Even _with_ my instruction you barely manage to remain even somewhat competent,” she says, looking down at the fat cat with a contemptuous sneer. It’s a look that Pete has missed so very much for so very long.

“Maleficent!” he cries out in sheer joy, falling from the rock to his knees, prostrate before his better. After a moment of bowing, he risks looking up at her. The witch’s expression seems to only have become more disgusted. “I’d heard a rumor, y’know, a real terrible thing. Somebody’s goin’ around sayin’ they killed ya!”

Maleficent’s scowl only deepens as she turns from her minion, who stumblingly regains his feet. As she does, she manages to catch a glimpse of her former base of operations, far in the distance and surrounded by high stone walls. She clutches her staff at the sight, a grievous affront to her. Had they forgotten her so quickly?

“They’re everywhere in that place,” Pete says, the very sound of his voice grating against Maleficent’s eardrums. She turns to look at him. “I only got inside a few seconds before I had to skedaddle, or they woulda seen me.” He looks at the ground nervously. “I think we may have to find someplace else to buckle down.”

Maleficent nods. “For once, Pete, you are absolutely in the right,” she says, and though the words sound like praise there is nothing in her tone that conveys any. “But worry not. I have made arrangements for other accommodations. I suggest you stand back.”

“Oh, yeah Maleficent, sure thing,” Pete acquiesces, bowing and backing away from the jade-skinned witch.

Closing her eyes, Maleficent reaches into the depths of her magic, finding the darkness in her heart that allows her to perform such feats as only she can. As she gathers power, so too do green flames gather around her, flickering in the air around her as she extends her will into the very stone of the canyon.

There’s a sudden loud rumbling, accompanied by a fierce shaking that nearly sends Pete to his knees. There’s only so long the cat can withstand it, however, and he falls back to his rump with a loud yelp.

His low view provides him a particularly majestic view of the process taking place. He watches as a round stone tower springs into existence, rising high into the air as if it had been waiting in some underground garage for Maleficent to raise it. The tower continues to grow until it must be as high as seventy feet, cutting through the dusky purple sky. Darkness swirls around the top, solidifying into a conical roof of violet tile. The symbol of the Heartless stands proud against its face, the red metal making it up providing enough contrast that it could never be missed.

After a solid minute the ground stops rumbling, and the dark tower stands completed. Maleficent closes her eyes, a sudden strained fatigue washing over her. For a brief moment it becomes all too much and to the witch’s deep shame she actually takes a stumbling step backward. Pete fights the urge to steady his mistress, and it’s good for his continued health he does so.

It takes but a minute for Maleficent to compose herself, but that is much too long for her liking. Obviously her time away has weakened her, and that only serves to add fuel to the raging fire of fury she feels towards the ones who put her in such a position.

Sora the Keybearer and his Disney Castle lackeys.

“Uh, Maleficent?” Pete says, clearing his throat as he looks over his mistress. “Maleficent, are you…?”

“I’m perfectly fine, you great imbecile!” the witch snaps back, nearly startling Pete off his feet. She looks up at her handiwork, an admiring smile playing across her lips. “Come. We have much to discuss. I’ll need to know everything that took place in my absence.”

As the villainous pair head into their gloomy keep, a man in a black coat watches them, thoroughly unimpressed.

**KH-KH-KH**

As he gazes out over the landscape laid out before him, Sora can’t help but be impressed.

The part of the world he can most vividly remember, the huge castle he had infiltrated to save Kairi and defeat Maleficent, now rises from the center of a large network of streets and houses. Several more plateaus of varying heights surround it, most of them packed with housing buildings. The entire town is surrounded by a high stone wall, keeping it safely separated from the barren expanse of blue stone wasteland beyond it, all underneath a midday sky of pale purple and orange.

They stand on the highest plateau, looking down at it all with a sense of awe and wonder. Hollow Bastion has changed so much that it might as well be a whole new world.

“This is definitely different than I remember,” Sora says to his compatriots, tearing his eyes away from the recovering metropolis. “How about you two? Anything coming back?”

Azlyn and Telary had been born on this world, seventeen and nineteen years ago respectively, and grew up here as young children, Telary with his sister Kairi under the watchful eye of their grandmother, and Azlyn as an orphan who had found a surrogate family in the redheaded siblings. After Kairi had disappeared, spirited away by the man known as Ansem, Seeker of Darkness in order to seek out the Keybearer, King Mickey had brought them offworld to the place they had spent their formative years.

The memories of their childhoods had been erased by the wizard Merlin by request of Queen Minnie of Disney Castle, and despite the best efforts of Kairi, had never fully recovered due to the corruption of the Hollow Bastion’s heart by the Heartless’s twelve-year long occupation. All residents of the world seemed similarly afflicted, most likely due to some mystical connection from the heart of a world to its inhabitants.

“Well, now I kind of remember there being a town,” Azlyn says, her forehead wrinkling with the strain of remembrance.

“I think our house was in one of the eastern districts,” Telary adds, still looking out over the city as if in hope of finding it. “I remember we had to walk a long way to get to the Hill Market. Which if I’m not mistaken, is where we are right now.”

They stand at one end of some kind of commerce center, various shops set up on either side of a long street leading to a plaza. The trio make their way through, taking in the mild foot traffic as denizens ranging in age from old men and women to young children walk about, going about their business like normal people.

It does the trio’s hearts good, to see what was once a barren, mist-covered place now so alive with individuals merely living their lives, unafraid of danger or Darkness.

“I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay,” Sora says as he and his companions walk along the avenue. “I’ll bet you anything they’re the ones in charge around here.”

Neither Azlyn nor Telary pay much attention to his comments, too absorbed in trying to recall any bit of information, no matter how small, from their missing childhoods. Telary spots a sweet shop up ahead that seems to connect with something childlike inside his heart, and moves towards it curiously.

Unfortunately, the wizard is so focused on the fleeting familiarity of the pink building that he doesn’t watch where he’s going. His foot catches on something warm and lightly fuzzy, and with a yelp he belly-flops to the ground.

Sora and Azlyn hear his distress and immediately rush to their friend. It takes a second for Telary to recover, and when he does manage to raise his head, he finds himself face to face with an odd creature.

The animal is small, no higher than Sora’s shin, square in shape, and covered in light blue-green fur. Its front two paws are similarly furry, but the back two are webbed feet that remind Telary of Master Donald. That’s not the only likeness between this creature and Donald, as it also possesses a yellow-beaked mouth underneath its large, unfocused eyes. A flat brown tail emerges from its hindquarters.

“What in the heck _is_ that thing?” Azlyn whispers to Sora, who can only shrug.

“Oh, there you are Perry!” a nasally voice says behind the trio. They whirl to see two children, one wearing blue shorts and an orange and white t-shirt, the other extremely high-waisted purple pants and a white shirt. The orange-shirt kid has red-hair and an oddly triangular head, and the purple-pants kid has green hair and is kind of shaped like an F.

The creature, evidently known as Perry, lets out a noise halfway between a growl and a purr, and waddles over to the outstretched arms of the red-haired kid.

“Man, Perry, you sure do know how to get yourself lost,” he says to his pet with a shake of his head. Once Perry is back at his side, the kid looks up at Sora, Azlyn, and Telary with a broad smile. “Hi there! Thanks for finding Perry for us. I’m Phineas, and this is my stepbrother Ferb.”

Ferb says nothing, merely blinks at the trio. It’s honestly a bit disconcerting.

“It was nothing, really,” Telary says, regaining his feet with Sora’s help. His brow furrows as he takes another long look at Perry. “If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of animal is Perry?”

“A platypus,” Phineas explains matter-of-factly, lightly rubbing Perry’s back and stirring another gravelly purr from the animal. “They don’t do much.”

Sora nods. Suddenly, something catches his eye: a blue sphere of light blips briefly into existence, then fades out just as quickly. The others catch it as well, frowning at the odd phenomenon. After a few seconds, an identical laser-sphere appears momentarily a few feet away before disappearing.

Phineas turns to see what the trio is looking at, and smiles as another sphere appears. “I see you’re checking out the town’s defense system,” he says with a hint of pride, looking back at them with another beaming grin. “I helped Mr. Cid design it, y’know.”

Azlyn spares the kid, who can’t be any older than twelve, a skeptical glance. Sora is a bit more open-minded, but he can’t help looking a bit strangely at the triangle-headed kid as well.

“Aren’t you a little young to be designing laser-defense grids?” the Keybearer asks.

Phineas chuckles a bit before replying. “Why, yes. Yes I am.”

For a moment, the entire group is silent.

“Oh my goodness!” Telary exclaims suddenly. “We forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Telary.”

“Azlyn.”

“And I’m…”

“Sora!” an excited female voice calls out from down the shopping lane. Turning, the trio sees a familiar young woman in black shorts, a black shirt and vest barreling down the street towards them, actually performing a double front flip to leap over a small crowd of teens going the opposite way. She lands perfectly on her feet and sprints the few remaining feet to them. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!”

“Hey, Yuffie!” Sora greets the ninja cheerfully as she wraps him up in a tender, not to mention tight, hug.

“Wait a minute, _you_ ’re Sora!” Phineas exclaims, a considerable amount of awe on his young face. “Like, the Keyblade master Sora?”

“Sure am!” Sora confirms with a smile, placing his hands on his hips as Yuffie moves on to envelop Telary and Azlyn in a hug of their own.

“That’s so cool!” Phineas says excitably.

“I see you’ve met the junior members of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee,” the ninja girl comments with a sly grin. Looping one arm through Sora’s, she looks down at the stepbrothers. “Hey kids, I’m gonna take these three to Merlin’s to see the others. Why don’t you run along and play ball, or whatever it is kids like to do these days.”

“Actually, we came to the market to pick up some ingredients for our growth formula,” Phineas explains. “We think it might be able to revolutionize the crops planting system!”

“Right on, Phin!” Yuffie encourages the red-haired before nodding to Ferb. “And hey, maybe next time we can actually exchange a few words, huh F?” The green-haired boy only blinks at her once more.

Phineas says goodbye to the group and heads back off into the marketplace with Ferb at his side, Perry waddling slowly along behind them.

“I tell ya, those kids are freaky smart,” Yuffie says quietly to the trio, shaking her head. “And I swear that sometimes their platythingy is watching me when I’m training. I think he doesn’t approve of my form. Anyway…” Gesturing broadly, she leads the trio down the street, skipping merrily along. They follow.

“You sure have turned this place around, Yuffie,” Sora comments as they walk into the large square at the end of the marketplace. The ninja seems to be leading the party to a large elevator hanging over the side in the open air above the lower city.

“And in such a short time, too,” Telary adds.

Yuffie shrugs as they all pile into the elevator. With a tap to the orange crystal inside, they begin to descend down a sheer rock face.

“Yeah, it has been kind of crazy,” the girl agrees with a shrug. “I mean, we only just started like a year ago…”

“A YEAR!” the trio exclaim simultaneously, looking at their old friend with panicked expressions.

“Um, yeah,” she replies warily, taking a step back from the group. “Did they not have calendars where you guy were?”

“Not exactly,” Sora says sheepishly.

The ninja shrugs. “Well, that’s okay. I’ll just take you to Merlin’s to meet the rest of the old gang. Should be really happy to see you again, which I always knew we would!”

Sora grins as he recalls a memory. Casually, he leans back against the lift’s wall, arms crossed.

“Even if we never see each other again, that doesn’t mean our friendship will end,” he says in a low, sullen voice. “If we stay in each other’s hearts, and we don’t forget about each other, we’ll still be together in the ways that matter.”

Everyone takes a moment to laugh at the impersonation, and Sora grins mischievously at their amusement.

It takes only a minute for the group to reach their destination. Merlin’s house is easily identifiable, the largest house on the block, the only one with a red roof, and with a large spinning wheel at the highest point, lights twinkling at its edges.

“Nice change of pace from the secret underground dustball he used to hang out in,” Azlyn quietly notes to Telary as Yuffie enthusiastically throws open the house’s door.

The entire house is contained in a single room, thought there seem to be several designated areas across the single floor. To Sora’s left is a large living area, with a bed, drawers full of books, and a large closed dresser. Tucked into the farthest corner is a relatively tiny kitchenette, with a stove and electric icebox sitting on either side of a large sink underneath a window.

The main area, right off the door, seems to be some sort of sitting room, with a large table covered in a white sheet in the middle, and a few plush looking chairs around it. Beyond the table is a large computer system, its large keyboard beneath a screen as wide as Sora’s outstretched arms. Green code flashes across it rapidly.

In front of the computer’s keyboard, on a low cushioned stool, sits the familiar hunched form of Cid, dressed in his usual white t-shirt and baggy blue jeans.

Next to the furiously typing Cid stands Aerith, tall and regal with a long auburn braid running down her back. Pink ribbons adorn her hair, matching the top she has on and several shades darker than the pink skirt underneath that.

“Say hello to the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!” Yuffie announces with a proud, beaming smile, arms outstretched to encompass the working pair.

Hearing their ninja companion’s words, Cid and Aerith turn to see what the commotion is about. Once they lay eyes on Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, smiles light up their faces.

“Well, it’s about time,” Cid comments around the thin wooden toothpick he’s currently chomping to the bit.

“It’s so good to see you three again!” Aerith says cheerily.

“I knew it,” says a deep voice from behind the trio. They turn to see Leon, leaning against the wall besides the door and looking vaguely smug. He wears much the same outfit he had last time they’d seen him: white t-shirt, black jacket with red lion/cross shape on the sleeves, and long black pants, as well as boots and gloves of dark leather. His hair is shorter, though, and a lighter shade of brown, and a white fur collar sits on his jacket. “I knew it would only be a matter of time.”

“Yeah, you three are like weeds that pop up no matter what ya do,” Cid mutters playfully, earning a glare from Azlyn and Sora.

Aerith frowns at the blond old man as well, but quickly returns her happy gaze to the trio. “We’ve all missed you very much.”

“You’ve got pretty good timing, too,” Leon says with an uncharacteristic half-grin.

“What do you mean by that?” Sora wonders.

“Well, just a few days ago, everyone in the committee suddenly remembered you guys, all at once,” the gunblade wielder explains, nodding to encompass his fellow members.

“Remembered?” Azlyn asks, indignant. “How could you remember us unless you forgot us? Which seems pretty insensitive to do after we saved your home. And the universe.”

“No one seems to be able to pinpoint the moment we forgot,” Aerith explains, sounding a bit worried at the unexplained phenomenon. “We can only say for sure that we remembered.”

“Maybe it has something to do with our, um, sleeping thing,” Telary posits, remembering the odd white pods. “I mean we were in their almost a year…”

“You slept for a year?” Cid asks incredulously. “Where the hell were ya, in cold storage?”

“We kinda were, come to think of it,” Sora confirms. For a moment everyone in the house silently contemplates.

“You know something,” Aerith finally says after the long pause has slid into awkward territory. “It really doesn’t matter what happened in the past. The important thing to remember and focus on here is that you’re all back. We’re together again.”

“Here, here!” Yuffie enthusiastically agrees, doing a standing backflip from sheer joy.

“Speaking of together again, have any of you seen the king?” Telary asks.

“Or my friend Riku?” Sora adds. “Tall, silver hair, piercing blue eyes. A real strong chin…”

Azlyn makes a face. “Uh, you might want to stop the description there, Sora. It’s getting kind of weird.”

“Oh, right. Okay.”

“I’m afraid we haven’t seen the king, or anybody who matches that description,” Leon says as the other committee members shake their heads regretfully. “Sorry we can’t help you out.”

“That’s okay,” Telary says with a dismissive sigh. “After all, it wouldn’t be a Sora, Azlyn, and Telary adventure if things were easy, now would it?”

“Still, it really is good to see you all again,” Sora says affectionately, smiling at each old friend in turn. “And what you’ve done with your world is pretty amazing too. It seems like it took a lot of effort to get things put back together.”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees with a nod. “Say, how did you do it so fast, anyway? This must have taken serious manpower.”

“Actually,” Yuffie cuts in, “We’ve mostly been using machines to work through the restoration process. It makes things way easier, even if we have to deal with…”

“Yoohoo!” a woman’s voice calls through the house’s wooden door, followed by a soft knock. “Hello, is anyone in there?”

Leon pushes off the wall and turns to open the door, revealing a tall woman standing on the doorstep. She’s dressed rather outrageously, her red and purple dress cut quite low and showing off ample cleavage, as well as most of her right leg sticking out of a large slit in the skirt. Blonde hair, thick and luscious, cascades down her back, and a judicious amount of makeup has been applied to her face.

“Oh, hello Leon,” the woman says, clasping the gunblade wielder’s hand in a friendly grip. “I hate to bother you, but I’ve come to see if my Ciddy-Widdy is available for a spot of afternoon tea.”

At the sound of his name, Cid grimaces and turns back to the computer, his fingers flashing frantically across the keyboard. The woman smiles at him, then seems to notice Sora, Azlyn, and Telary for the first time.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry to interrupt!” she apologizes sheepishly. “I had no idea you were entertaining guests. Pardon me for…”

“It’s no bother, Miss LeBlanc,” Leon assures the woman with a nod. “In fact, we were just talking about you. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary wanted…”

“Wait a minute!” LeBlanc interrupts, her eyes darting across the trio in a look that conveys no small amount of awe. “You mean, he’s here? The great Keyblade master, the boy who gave us our home back, has returned!”

She sweeps past Leon into the house, her heels clacking across the wooden floor as she makes her way to the trio, bouncing with each step. Several parts of her.

She grasps Telary’s hand and pulls it to her lips, planting a sloppy wet kiss on the back of it that leaves red lipstick marks when she pulls away.

“My name is LeBlanc, Keybearer,” she says with a broad grin. “It is an honor to finally meet you after hearing so much about…”

“That’s not Sora!” Azlyn snaps, batting the woman’s hand away from Telary’s. The wizard himself is too dazed to even react.

“I’m Sora, Miss LeBlanc,” Sora says with a nervous cough.

LeBlanc looks from the tall redhead to the smaller brunette, a look of sheer embarrassment on her face.

“Oh, terribly sorry for that little mix-up… Telary, was it?” Something in her eyes seems a bit suggestive.

“Uh, no problem,” the wizard replies with a nervous shrug. He can only hold eye contact for a brief moment before pulling away.

“Forgive me, Sora, but I just thought the Keyblade master would be a little… older,” LeBlanc apologizes, throwing another up-and-down look at Telary before offering Sora her hand. He shakes it.

“LeBlanc’s syndicate is one of the wealthiest conglomerates in town,” Leon explains. “When it came time to begin the rebuilding, she offered to finance the construction equipment for almost nothing.”

Cid snorts, loud enough to attract attention. “Almost…” he mutters darkly.

“That’s very generous of you,” Sora says appreciatively, sending LeBlanc into a fit of self-congratulatory preening.

“Maybe not very _smart_ …” Azlyn mutters, only to get a nudge from Telary.

“Well, once I saw the pitiful state my home was in, how could I not use my wealth and prestige to help rebuild?” she says with a shrug that does rather distracting things to her chest.

“We were just about to arrange a tour for Sora and the others, to see the progress on the outer wall,” Leon says. “Would you like to…?”

LeBlanc shakes her head, hair whipping back and forth as she does. “As much as I would love to, I think I’d rather wait here for Ciddy to finish his work.” She appears at the older man’s side in a flash, causing him to fall backwards off his chair, startled.

“Whatever you’d like, Miss LeBlanc,” Leon says with a cheerful nod. Behind him, everyone snickers at Cid’s predicament.

They exit Merlin’s house, surprisingly without seeing the old wizard, and Leon, Aerith and Yuffie show off the progress being made on Hollow Bastion. There’s a visible joy on each of their faces as they speak about the work being done, which fills Sora’s heart with a fierce pride once again, that he had been able to make these changes possible.

“…But of course, there are still a lot of problems with the Heartless, defense grid or no,” Leon says with a bit of a weary sigh. “And not only that, but for a few weeks now there have been some reported sightings of some new kind of silvery-white creatures…”

“Nobodies,” Azlyn provides with a frown.

“So you’ve seen these guys too?” Yuffie asks, earning three affirmative nods.

“Yeah, they’re real trouble,” Sora says, shaking his head. “They’re controlled by this group called Organization XIII. Supposedly they’re major bad news.”

“Which is just what we need, isn’t it,” Telary mutters darkly.

After a few minutes of walking they reach a large stone building set into the thick stone wall. At the bottom of the building is a long tunnel with a steel gate at the end, beyond which is a blue stone road out into the unknown wilds. At the other end is a large yard where a dozen young men and women in blue uniforms appear to be in the midst of a training exercise.

“This is the bailey!” Yuffie says cheerily as they enter the courtyard, happily leaping into the air for a double-flip. “It’s one of three defensive outposts, and the only one with a gate to the Badlands.”

“It’s also where the Hollow Bastion Guard is headquartered,” Leon continues, gesturing to the practicing men and women. “It isn’t much right now, but I trust that their commander can whip them into shape.”

“It seems to have worked on you, after all,” says a steady female voice. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary turn to see a tall blonde woman emerge from the gate tunnel, wearing a salmon shirt under a blue jacket. A coiled whip rides on the belt of her blue pencil skirt. She gives Leon a smile and pushes up her square-rimmed glasses.

“This is Quistis,” Aerith says by way of introduction. “She’s captain of the Hollow Bastion Guard.”

“She’s also my old teacher,” Leon reveals with a smirk. “She taught me everything I know about combat.”

“But not everything _I_ know,” Quistis says with a sly wink. “And don’t you forget that, Squa… Leon.”

“That is so cool!” Sora exclaims, and the expressions on his companions’ faces suggest they feel the same.

“Was he always such a grump?” Azlyn asks with a raised eyebrow, coaxing a laugh out of the commander.

“Not as much as you might think,” she replies with an almost sad expression. “I think it’s old age that’s really getting his goat.”

“You’re older than I am,” Leon quips back, but Quistis just shrugs that off.

“Not in spirit, my friend.”

There’s a quiet moment before anyone else speaks again.

“We’ll have to do something about your defense force’s name, I think,” Azlyn says, looking out across the field of trainees. “I can’t have you ripping off Disney Castle like that all willy nilly, eh?”

Quistis smiles at the young knight. “I’ll take any suggestions you can give under consideration.”

“Has there been any new developments with… that thing?” Leon asks her in low tones, almost a whisper.

“Nothing to report, I’m afraid,” Quistis replies. “But I’ve got people monitoring it nonstop, just in case…”

“What are you talking about?” Sora asks, butting in. “Is something wrong?”

Leon nods. “Kind of,” he says solemnly. “Come on with me and I’ll show you.”

Leaving Aerith, Yuffie, and Quistis behind, Leon takes the trio up a staircase along the bailey’s back wall and leads them into a small room, nothing inside but the massive winch that operates the steel gate below and a chair by the large square window overseeing the Badlands. Two soldiers stand there, but Quistis dismisses them with a flick of her head.

Leon leads the trio to the window and passes Sora the binoculars. Taking a minute to make sure they set right, he places the lenses to his eyes and gazes out into the blue wasteland.

Far in the distance, perhaps a mile out, a large brown tower rises into the air, the symbol of the Heartless stamped in its roof like a brand.

“Huh,” he says quietly. “Wow, I don’t…”

Azlyn, impatient, grabs the binoculars out of Sora’s hands and places them against her own eyes, frowning at the sight before her. After a minute, she hands them to Telary, who grimaces deeply upon spying the tower.

“Yikes,” the wizard squeaks out, lowering the binoculars. “How long has that been there?”

“It’s been most of a day now,” Leon answers, frowning deeply into the distance. He turns to the trio. “Do you guys have any idea what this is about? Is there some kind of new threat?”

“Well there’s this guy named Pete,” Sora explains, his hands waving about as he talks. “He’s apparently been going around to a bunch of worlds to build up a Heartless army.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Leon comments with a grimace.

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about him too much,” Azlyn says with a shrug. “From what we saw, he’s none too bright. I doubt he’d know a good evil plan if it bit him on his wide butt.”

“But there is that Organization XIII we were telling you about,” Telary adds nervously. “They have some kind of plan that involves Nobodies, but we’re not sure of any specifics. Actually, we’ve never even met them.”

“And isn’t that just too sad,” a deep, unfamiliar voice suddenly rumbles through the air, sending the trio and Leon into a panic. “Perhaps it is time we were formally introduced. Perhaps a little celebration is in order…”

There’s a sudden loud scream from the courtyard, and in moments sounds of a struggle join it. Leon’s eyes widen, and he immediately races for the door. Sora moves to follow him, but is distracted by the sound of portals opening outside. The Keybearer rushes back to the window to see a veritable battalion of Dusks, drifting lazily but purposefully towards the city gate.

“If they bust down that gate, it could make way for a whole bunch of nasty stuff!” Azlyn declares, her shield already out in her hand. “We’ve gotta stop them!”

Sora nods. “Telary, do you still have that Feather Fall spell handy?”

The redheaded wizard nods and unlimbers his staff, waving it in the air and muttering magic words. A brief silver glow surrounds the trio, and they make diving leaps out of the observation window.

They land on the blue stone ground in front of the gate with a barely noticeable impact, face to face with the charging Dusks. They waste no time before taking the fight to their enemies.

The Dusks are just as slippery now as they were in Twilight Town, and often it is a struggle just to find a good angle for attack. Sora swipes his Keyblade vertically at one only to be sidestepped and whacked in the chest by a flailing white arm.

Azlyn blocks a charge from two Dusks, then turns to slice through another pair approaching from behind. This unfortunately splits her focus, and another Nobody gets in an attack that sends her reeling. She manages to recover, and turns to hurl her shield, striking down that Nobody and the two others beside it before her shield rebounds and she catches it easily.

Telary’s spells are having a difficult time landing, and every few seconds a Dusk slips through his guard and he is forced to beat them with the heavy head of the staff.

After a solid minute of furious fighting, Sora finally manages to cut through the last remaining Dusk. A quiet settles over the area, broken only by the labored breathing of the trio.

“The Keyblade,” the deep voice from earlier says, once again from seeming thin air. “A truly marvelous weapon. Now, if only it were in more capable hands, hm?”

That insult sets Sora off, and he grips his weapon tight, looking around for the voice’s owner with an angered scowl.

“Sora!” Azlyn calls out in alarm, pointing to the bailey’s roof high above. The Keybearer whirls to see a man in a black cloak, the very same kind he had seen projected in Yen Sid’s study, standing there, looking down.

“There you are, you slimy…” Sora begins. The hooded man raises his hands, and the boy falls silent as black portals open around the cloaked figure, more cloaks stepping out to surround their apparent leader.

“I count six,” Telary whispers to Sora, who nods, already attempting to figure out a strategy.

“Nice of you all to show up like this!” Azlyn calls up at the black-clad group.

“Yeah,” Sora agrees. “Now we can settle this, once and for all.”

The hooded man high above cocks his head to the side, somehow conveying contempt and bemusement without any of his face visible.

“You want to fight us, my boy?” he chuckles mockingly. The hood shakes. “This is so disappointing. And here I thought we could all be friends.”

“Not likely!” Azlyn yells defiantly. “You don’t even exist, ya bunch of palookas!”

“Well, if that’s the way you feel…” Suddenly the black portals return, swallowing the Organization XIII members before vanishing, leaving no trace behind.

“Seriously?” Azlyn exclaims, kicking furiously at the ground. “Some villains those guys are, showing up for ten seconds before they…”

A dark portal opens only a few feet from the knight, and she screams and jumps back in surprise. After a moment it fades, and a man in an Organization cloak stands before the trio, hood up. He’s got a distinctly different build from the first cloaked man, skinnier with wiry muscled arms.

The trio instinctively prepare their weapons for a fight.

“Well at least one of you Nobody jerks is big enough to make a fight of it!” Sora yells defiantly at the Nobody.

Surprisingly, he chuckles. “Man, you definitely don’t lack for spirit, do you?” the Nobody observes in a sort of meandering, lackadaisical voice. “Certainly not.”

“You gonna stand there all day, are we gonna fight?” Azlyn challenges, shield held ready to throw.

The Nobody places a hand on his hip, his posture indicating offense. “Now, c’mon,” he says with a shake of his hooded head. “Do you really think that’s polite, hm? Just shutting me down like that?”

“It’s probably more polite than sending a bunch of Nobody flunkies to attack this town,” Telary points out, eyes narrowed even as he maintains his usual even tone.

The Nobody shrugs in response. “I suppose that’s fair.

Sora takes a step forward and actually growls, feeling the vibration deep in his throat. The Organization member’s hood swivels to look at the boy, and after a few seconds he bursts out in a full belly laugh.

“What do you think is so funny, huh?” Sora demands. “That we’re about to kick your scrawny Nobody butt?”

“Actually, I was just thinking about that look on your face,” the Nobody says, his laughter dying down. “He used to give me that exact same one. Usually just before he did something stupid. I wonder if he got that from you, or…?”

“What is your problem?” Sora demands. “Do you think you can just show up and start spouting random nonsense, and I’ll just take it? Well I’ll show you what happens when you mess with the Keyblade!”

“As if you could,” the Nobody scoffs. “It seems to me that you’ve forgotten the kind of people you’re dealing with.”

“Forgotten?” Sora says slowly, something subtly pushing on the back of his mind, like a memory that he can’t actually remember. “But, I’ve never…”

“You know, it seems to me that you could use some time alone, to, y’know, process this or whatever. So if you don’t mind…”

A black portal opens again, and the mysterious Organization XIII Nobody disappears into it.

“What…?” Sora begins to ask, only to be interrupted by the sound of the Hollow Bastion bailey’s gate opening. Turning, the trio see Leon and Quistis rush out onto the blue stone ground of the wasteland, Yuffie and Aerith not far behind.

“Are you guys okay?” Leon immediately asks, his usually laid back voice containing hints of panic. “Were those guys…?”

“The Organization,” Telary completes, nodding as he holsters his magician’s staff. “They all showed up here. Only for like a minute though.”

“Then there was that one guy,” Azlyn adds with a scowl and shake of the head. “He was a real wierdo, going on about…”

“ _Who_ used to give him the same look?” Sora interrupts suddenly, drawing the group’s attention. He still looks bewildered.

“You know something, Sora,” Telary says compassionately. “I think that guy was just trying to psyche you out. Confuse you.”

“Yeah, like _that’s_ hard to do,” Azlyn mutters to herself.

Sora nods perkily at the wizard’s suggestion. “You’re probably right, Tel. After all, there’s only one me!”

That phrase seems to spark something in Aerith, you reaches into a brown pouch at her side and pulls out three purple rectangles of plastic.

“What are those?” Azlyn asks even as Aerith hands them to the trio, who all take one. The knight sees her name written on one side, and on the other it says “Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member.”

“Membership cards?” Telary says, looking over his. Leon nods, and even smiles a little.

“Cool,” Sora says, reading his to reassure himself of his unique identity. Smiling, he holds the card up to the yellow light of the sun.

After a moment there’s a subtle flash, and suddenly the card is surrounded by an orb of white light. Sora lets go of it and the plastic card begins to float upwards into the air. As it rises, the Keyblade pops into Sora’s right hand without any thought of his prompting it.

A light emanates from the blade, surrounding Sora as he holds it towards the ground with both hands. After a moment fades, and Sora finds himself in the midst of a vast space, surrounded by clouds that seem illuminated by a light source he cannot pinpoint.

The floating card is still there and surrounded by the white light orb, but in a flash it shoots a thin beam of light that explodes into the air, revealing a silvery Keyhole made completely of light.

Instinctively, Sora jumps back and raises the Keyblade, calling upon its power. Stars gather at the blade’s tip before coalescing into a silver beam that shoots up and into the Keyhole. It flashes brightly temporarily robbing Sora of his sight. When it fades, he’s once again standing outside the bailey, surrounded by his bewildered friends.

“Uh, what was that?” Quistis asks, looking all around for any information she can get. “Was that some kind of Keyblade thing?”

“It means it’s time to move on,” Sora says, sounding assured.

“Did you open a new path?” Telary asks. Sora replies with a grin and confident nod.

“Sorry to have to run like this, Leon,” the Keybearer apologizes. “But other worlds are calling, and Riku or the King could be in any one of them.”

“Well, I suppose it just wouldn’t be you if there wasn’t some quest you were bent on completing,” Yuffie says in a teasing tone.

“Good luck out there,” Aerith says.

“Those Organization guys seem pretty tough,” Quistis says, shuddering a little. “You be careful. We haven’t even really had a chance to get to know each other yet.”

“Any time you want to, you’re welcome to come back,” Leon assures the trio. “There’s always a place for you on this committee.”

“I know,” Sora replies with a grin, holding up the membership card between two fingers before placing it in the red pouch at his side.

Telary finishes scribbling something on a scrap of paper before handing it to Leon. “That’s our Gummi ship’s comm frequency. If anything big happens with the Heartless or Nobodies, you can use it to contact us. We’ll be back as fast as we can.”

“I appreciate it,” Leon says. “Now get on out there and save some worlds, yeah?”

Telary pulls the teleportation controls from his pocket, and with the press of a single button, the trio vanish in three separate beams of white light.


	5. Basic Training

As the leftover flash from the teleporter beam’s bright light begins to clear, Sora shakes his eyes and blinks rapidly to clear away the specks of light dominating his vision. The last thing he needs right after setting foot on a new world is to be too blind to effectively work.

He turns to make a comment to Azlyn, but finds that she hasn’t appeared to the right of him, where she’d been standing when the teleporter activated. All he sees are low bushes of leafy greens, thin stalks of bamboo that remind him of Deep Jungle jutting out of them, a thin canopy of green leaves obscuring the late morning sunshine above.

“Hello?” he calls out softly, looking around once again. He waits several seconds, but there’s no response. “Azlyn? Telary? Are you out there?”

More silence, and after a few seconds spent rubbernecking the area, Sora decides that it’s best to just move on and hope to find his companions as soon as possible.

He hopes that his separation isn’t some sort of glitch on the part of the teleporter, as having to deal with such a temperamental piece of technology could seriously interfere with excursions to other worlds. On the other hand, it’s more likely just due to inexperience in the device’s use.

“Hey, Sora!” Azlyn’s familiar voice calls out from not far away. Turning, Sora sees the knight stumble out of a patch of leafy bushes to his right. She doesn’t look happy, scowling as she moves toward him. She also isn’t very clean, smudges of dirt on her jacket and even a few twigs in her blonde hair.

“Azlyn,” the Keybearer says with a nonchalant nod. “And I was having such a nice morning, too.”

“Ha ha,” she shoots back, sneering at his joke. She trips once more on her way over to him, and he reaches up to steady her. “It just figures we get the faulty teleporter. Nothing ever goes right with us.”

“All part of the adventure,” Sora says with an easy shrug. He frowns and looks around. “I _would_ like to know where Telary is though. I’d imagine he isn’t having a great time wandering all alone right now, huh?”

Azlyn grunts negatively, then suddenly stops, tilting her head up to the sky. She takes two very audible sniffs of the air, frowning.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Sora asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Smoke,” she replies, moving forward and past her companion, still sniffing. “There’s a fire somewhere nearby. Can’t you smell it?”

Sora takes a good long whiff, and suddenly he does indeed detect a hint of a smoky smell in the air. He inadvertently flashes back to nights spent around bonfires on the beach after lazy days of play, fires in his living room at Christmas time, Axel…

“Quit smiling like a freak and come on,” Azlyn says impatiently, tugging Sora back to the reality at hand. She turns and heads towards the source of the smell. “Maybe Telary set a fire to see if he could signal us with it.”

The pair trudge through the thicket, Azlyn carelessly letting branches snap into Sora’s chest and face enough times that he begins to suspect she’s doing it on purpose. After a minute of walking, a crackling sound accompanies the steadily increasing smell in the air. Azlyn leads the way forward until they reach the edge of a dirt path.

She crouches down and Sora immediately follows suit, looking over the knight’s shoulder into a small clearing.

A young man in black and green armor, a green scarf tied around his neck, cowers in front of a large black shadow, thin and serpentine and projected across a large rock jutting out of several smaller stones, a fire blazing in front of it.

“What is that?” Sora asks Azlyn out of the corner of his mouth, eyeing the scene warily. “Do you think it could be some kind of Heartless?”

“Definitely,” Azlyn agrees with a nod, already unlimbering her shield from her back. She rises to her full height, preparing a charge. “If we hurry, maybe we can get the jump on it while it’s just standing around.”

Something in the knight’s words sparks a bit of caution in Sora, and he takes a moment to examine the reasons why the Heartless _hasn’t_ yet made its move. If it really is a Heartless, he can’t think of a good explanation.

“Y’know,” he says thoughtfully, “Telary would probably tell us that we should look before we…”

He doesn’t get to finish his thought, as Azlyn leaps from concealment and charges, tossing her shield at the shadowy creature with deadly force and accuracy.

Several things happen in the chaos of the next moment: A startled voice from behind the ring of rocks lets out a worried yelp, Azlyn’s shield hits the large jutting rock and bounces off with a loud noise, and the young armored man attempts to draw the sword at his side, but fumbles it and sends it flying into the nearby thicket.

The flying sword startles Azlyn, who grinds to a stop that kicks up dirt all around. Something tiny and red leaps out from behind the rock ring and into the young man’s arms, both of them turning away and tucking their heads down. Sora, who had been following in the knight’s wake, doesn’t manage to stop so quickly, and runs straight into Azlyn’s back, sending both of them to the dusty ground.

Into the chaos emerges Telary, cautiously holding out the sword in front of him point down with one hand, the other rubbing at his shoulder, where he’d been unceremoniously hit with the object, luckily getting the hilt instead of the steel blade.

“In a way,” he says as he surveys the odd scene, “it’s actually pretty comforting to see how things fall apart without me around.” He looks down at Sora and Azlyn, hands on hips. “You leaped without looking, didn’t you?”

“Not my fault,” Sora moans in protest.

“Sora…”

“Wait a minute,” A voice coming from the direction of the cowering young man exclaims. He turns and looks at the group with wide, surprised eyes, as a small four-legged creature, long and thin with a red scaly body and yellow fleshy belly, jumps out of his arms and steps on its back legs toward where Azlyn and Sora are laying in a heap. “Sora?”

“Mushu?” Sora says, sitting up and looking at the tiny creature. He recognizes him immediately, of course, as the dragon he had summoned during a battle with the Heartless last year when he’d been alone and cut off from Azlyn and Telary in the depths of the End of Worlds. “Hey it is you!”

“You bet it is!” Mushu exclaims happily, smiling broadly, revealing pointed white teeth. “It’s been too long, my man!”

“You know these people?” the cowering young man asks softly, cautiously drawing himself up to his full height. Sora finally gets a good look at him, noticing his thin face and the black hair tied up in a bun atop his head.

“Well, I ain’t so sure about the screaming girl and the guy with your sword, but I definitely remember my main man Sora!” Mushu exclaims excitedly. “I saved his scrawny butt from a whole mess of trouble not too long ago.”

“It’s true,” Sora confirms, ignoring the eyebrow that Azlyn is raising at him.

“You needed to get your butt saved by some lizard?” she chuckles.

“Uh, excuse me!” Mushu indignantly proclaims. “I am a _dragon_ , girly, not a lizard, okay? A powerful, pleasurable dragon and family guardian to boot, so ha!”

“Okay,” Azlyn practically snorts. “Whatever you say, Scaly.”

Telary looks at the young man and offers him his sword back, looking terribly sheepish about the whole affair. The youth takes it with a thankful nod and slides it back into its sheath, missing the first two times and finally getting it secured on the third.

“So what’s your name?” Telary asks, smiling gently at Mushu’s companion.

“Uh…” the young man stutters, looking bewildered and confused for several awkward seconds. “My name is… Well, it’s uh…”

“Ping!” Mushu interjects with the same tone one might exclaim _Eureka_! “This here is Ping, the member of the Fa family currently in the need of my personal brand of family guardian kickbuttmanship.”

“Yes, that’s right!” Ping agrees, his voice deep and rough. Maybe even a bit too rough. “Ping is my name.”

“Ping, huh?” Azlyn repeats, looking confused. “Kind of a weird name for a girl, but…”

“Excuse me?” Ping sputters, eyes wide and looking ready to hurl all over the dusty ground. Sora and Telary also react with obvious confusion. “My name is Ping, and I am the _son_ of Fa Zhou, great hero of China’s…”

“Nice try,” Azlyn cuts the disguised girl off, shaking her head amusedly, “but that act ain’t gonna cut it with me.”

Apparently-Not-Ping sighs, a crestfallen look across her face. “Alright, alright,” she admits. “You got me. My name isn’t really Ping, it’s Mulan. But I am Fa Zhou’s child. His only one in fact. Only _daughter_.”

“So why are you pretending to be a boy?” Sora asks.

“I’ll handle this one, Mulan,” Mushu says, cutting the girl off with a wave of his clawed hand. “Y’see, at the moment China is having some problems with a nasty fella named Shan-Yu and his Hun army, so the emperor declared that every family in the country has to send a man to war…”

“But my father is old, and was injured during the last conflict he fought in,” Mulan picks up. “He’s in no condition to fight any Huns, but _someone_ had to go and preserve the Fa family honor. So, just two days ago I snuck away from home and disguised myself.”

“So you’re just trying to help out your father?” Telary says sympathetically. “That’s really brave of you, Mulan.”

“And _I,_ ” Mushu cuts in, scurrying up Mulan’s armor and resting on her wide shoulder pads, “being the duly appointed Fa family guardian and everything, was sent by her ancestors to make sure she doesn’t get caught, and maybe even takes down the big bad Shan-Yu herself while I’m at it.”

“Sounds like a big task,” Sora says, sounding impressed. “Anything we can do to help?”

“Well,” Mulan says, looking over the Keybearer then turning to check out Telary as well, “I could use some help I guess. If I was around guys like you, maybe I’d fit in better with the men in the army. You two seem pretty manly…”

Azlyn lets out a long, loud laugh at that, drawing the boys’ ire. After a moment she recovers, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Oh,” the knight says off of Mulan’s half-confused, half-terrified expression, “you were serious, weren’t you?”

Sora barely gives the knight an unamused look before turning back to Mulan. “We’d be glad to help,” he says cheerfully. “And anyway, I still owe Mushu that favor I promised him.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” Azlyn cuts in, frowning. “Just sit on the sidelines and watch you two bozos try to exemplify rough-and-tumble manhood?”

“Well, Mulan seems to have put together a pretty convincing disguise,” Telary notes, looking “Ping” up and down thoughtfully. “Maybe we could do the same for you.”

“To be honest,” Mulan interjects nervously, giving each of the trio a once over, “all three of you could use to disguise yourselves. No offense, but your strange clothing would look pretty out of place anywhere in China.”

Telary frowns. “Well, I wish we _could_ just change our clothes, but…”

Suddenly, the clothes of Sora, Azlyn, and Telary shine with a bright light. When it fades, all three wear armor similar to Mulan's; Sora’s in maroon, Telary’s in a dull yellow, and Azlyn’s in sky blue.

“Uh, wow,” Telary says, looking down and examining himself. “I guess there are more perks than we’d thought to getting clothes from a sorcerer.”

“A sorceror…?” Mulan asks, looking bewildered by all recent events. Then again, a talking dragon is sitting on her shoulder, so who is she to judge?

“Long story,” Azlyn says, picking up a large round bucket-helmet that had appeared with her armor and placing it over her head, concealing her face completely.

“Okay, that’s enough of the chit-chat, folks,” Mushu says, a sense of hurried urgency in his voice. “Let’s get down to that army and start saving China!”

The Land of Dragons

The army camp isn’t at all far from the bamboo grove, so after a leisurely walk of five minutes, the group arrives, easily walking past the posted sentries with their disguises, even though Azlyn’s concealed face does get an eyebrow raise from one man.

The camp isn’t large, a four-thousand foot perfect square surrounded by a wooden wall, dozens of small tan tents lined up in neat rows that resemble houses lined along city streets. In the center of the camp, Sora sees a long line forming near a considerably larger red tent. Curious, he leads Azlyn and Telary through the camp’s entrance and heads for the line.

A few soldiers are not in line, including one group sitting in a circle and playing some kind of dice game. Out of the corner of his eye, Telary that several of them are staring after him and his friends. He self-consciously glances around, and in no time locates the source of the soldiers’ curiosity.

Mulan follows behind the trio, her back held straight and her knees locked in, jerkily moving her arms in time with the steps she’s taking, producing an odd motion that looks like she has a really bad wedgie and the first stages of Polio all at once.

Azlyn notices this next and sighs out loud, pushing Telary on ahead and hanging back to give Mulan a little advice, pretend-man to pretend-man.

“Knock that crap off!” the knight hisses under her breath, the sharpness of the admonishment completely breaking off Mulan's stride. “What are you doing?”

“I, um, I…” Mulan stammers, looking everywhere but at Azlyn, “I was just trying to do my manly walk, y’know?”

“Just like I taught her!” Mushu hisses back from his hiding place underneath the armor of Mulan's upper back.

Azlyn shakes her helmeted head. “Look,” she says through obviously gritted teeth, “first of all, Mushu couldn’t teach a clownfish to swim…”

“Hey!” the family guardian objects.

“And second of all,” the knight continues, “the key to any good disguise is not drawing attention to yourself, which I promise you is something that walk is not going to accomplish. Now just relax, and walk more or less normally, just keep your hips a little steadier. Can you do that?”

Mulan nods eagerly, readjusting herself and continuing her walk to the line as normally as she can.

Sora and Telary are already waiting, and Azlyn leads Mulan to their spot, elbowing past a short man in red armor.

“Hey!” the man replies in a gruff voice that seems uncharacteristic of his diminutive stature. “No cutting in line, Bucket-Head!”

Sora and Telary turn around, the Keybearer looking much more casual than the court wizard. “We were saving a spot for them,” Sora explains coolly. “We’re friends.”

“Friends, huh?” the short man replies, narrowing his eyes at the boy. “Well, I got me some friends too, kid. Here, meet one of ‘em!” With a bellow, he swipes his right fist straight into Sora’s chest, knocking the boy to the ground.

“Hey!” Azlyn cries out, her voice somehow sounding deeper coming from inside the helmet. She swiftly responds with her own punch, sending the short man stumbling back a dozen steps. Unsatisfied with that, she presses her advantage and charges, knocking her opponent to the ground.

Sora stands and rushes forward as well, happy to back his friend up in her brawl. Telary makes a fleeting attempt to stop the boy, but it’s no use.

“Hey!” a tall skinny man in yellow armor exclaims happily, stepping up to where Sora had been standing moments ago. “A space in line! This is my lucky day!”

Not so much, as suddenly Sora stumbles back into him, knocking the skinny man to the ground and raising his ire.

As Sora moves to help Azlyn, whose helmet has stayed miraculously in place during her dustup, the skinny man pushes into Sora’s back, sending the boy to the ground. Sora turns and sees his new opponent, narrowing his eyes at him as he charges. For a few frantic moments, there is nothing but violence.

Mulan and Telary watch it all with worried looks on their faces, moving back and forth from one battle to the other.

“Stop!” Telary yells.

“Please!” Mulan also cries out, momentarily forgetting that she’s supposed to be using her “Ping” voice.

And for a moment, everyone does, the combatants looking at her and Telary with raised eyebrows.

The short man scoffs loudly. “What a buncha girls!” With that, he turns back to his brawl.

“Please!” the skinny man repeats, incredulous at such language. “What a shrimp!”

“Oh I _know_ that you did not just say that!” Mushu’s boisterous voice calls out angrily from inside Mulan's armor. “Why don’t you pick on somebody your own size, noodles for brains?”

This, of course, draws Mulan into the conflict as well, though her contribution consists mostly of cowering. Telary watches it all like a hideously real horror show is playing out before his eyes.

“Oh goodness,” a gentle voice says suddenly behind the wizard. Turning, Telary finds himself face to belly with a tall, well-rounded young man with a bald head and soft features, wearing blue armor. “It appears my friends have found themselves in another ill-advised confrontation.”

“These are you friends?” Telary ask with a raised eyebrow.

The big man nods slowly. “The short one is Yao,” he says with a gesture to the man currently getting his face shoved in the dirt by Azlyn. “And the taller one Ling. My name is Chien Po.”

“Nice to meet you, Chien Po!” Telary greets with a friendly smile, pumping his new friend’s large hand companionably. “I’m…”

“SOLDIERS!” a serious voice suddenly calls from not far away. Looking to its source, Telary sees a young man, perhaps the same age as Mulan, dressed in red armor and a matching cape secured at his throat by a gold clasp.

Immediately, Azlyn, Sora, Yao, and Ling cease their brawls, looking up at the newcomer.

“That is Captain Shang,” Chien Po provides solemnly. “He is our commanding officer. Behind him is Chi-Fu, advisor to the Emperor himself.”

“What happened here?” the captain demands. Behind him, an older, distressingly skinny man in a long blue robe and conical hat scribbles something on a wooden noteboard. He somehow manages to look even less pleased than the captain. “Who started this fight?”

“It was Bucket-Head here!” Yao calls out, pointing up at Azlyn, whose foot is pressed down on his back.

Shang narrows his eyes and slides over to Azlyn, Chi-Fu slinking after him, still scribbling. “What is your name, soldier?”

Azlyn hesitates for a moment, but manages to recover quickly enough. “It’s Sora, sir. My name is Sora.”

The actual Sora raises an eyebrow at the knight’s choice of alias.

“And why, Sora, are you wearing that helmet in my camp?”

“In memory of my father, sir,” says “Sora”, her voice even deeper than before. “You see, sir, he was killed by Shan-Yu and his Hun army while I could only watch. This is the helmet he wore while fighting them off, and from that day on I vowed not to remove it until Shan-Yu has faced the justice of my blade!”

For a moment everything is quiet, Telary and Sora sharing a bewildered look at their companion’s on-the-fly story. For his part, Shang seems unsure whether or not to believe it himself.

Unfortunately for him, there’s little time to mull it over, as a sudden yell from the further reaches of the camp demands everyone’s attention. Three soldiers run at a full-on sprint towards the center of the camp, pursued by three flying, robed creatures that can only be Heartless. The strange sight startles most of the camp, even sending Chi-Fu diving behind the nearest tent row.

Meanwhile, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary waste no time with words, drawing their weapons and charging past the fleeing soldiers to face the trio of Nightwalkers, steadily joined by half a dozen Shadows.

“Ahem!” Mushu whispers to Mulan from inside her armor. “This is your chance to be a hero, girl!”

“Right!” Mulan snaps to attention and runs after the trio. She stops in her tracks, however, when three Shadows rise from the ground to menace her. She stumbles back, reaching for her sword, but unfortunately catches one foot on the edge of a tent and falls back, landing harshly on the ground.

The Shadows charge, but before they can reach the disguised girl, Sora is there to eliminate them all with a single Keyblade swipe.

A Nightwalker makes its way to Shang, who is luckily well-trained enough to defeat it on his own, taking it down with a bevy of sword swipes. It’s the last of them.

The captain walks up to where Sora is helping Mulan up and making sure the girl is okay. She seems fine, if a little embarrassed.

“You fought excellently, soldier,” Shang says appreciatively, smiling at the Keybearer. He turns to Azlyn next. “And after fighting like that, Sora, you can keep whatever odd armor practices you’d like.”

The captain turns back to the real Sora. “What is your name?”

Sora almost gives his real name, only barely remembering in time that Azlyn had stolen it for her disguise. “Roxas, sir,” he says after a moment, completely unaware of where exactly that alias had come from.

“And I’m Riku!” Telary adds, raising his hand and smiling sheepishly.

“Well, Sora, Roxas, and Riku,” Shang says, looking at each of them in turn, “I am glad to have men like you serving in my battalion.”

“Uh, Captain, sir,” Mulan interjects, stuttering weakly, “my name is Ping, son of…”

“Perhaps,” Shang interrupts with a glare, “it would be better if you went home. We’re shipping out as soon as possible, and I’m afraid there won’t be time to properly train out your… weakness.”

Sora hears a growl from inside Mulan's armor and quickly slaps the disguised young woman on the back to keep her dragon guardian silent.

“At least give Ping a chance, captain,” he pleads. “He may not look like much, but Ping can hold his own, I’m sure of it.”

Shang raises an eyebrow at the defense, but ultimately just shrugs. “I suppose we’ll see. In fact, I have a mission in mind that could be perfect for you.” The trio and Ping lean forward in anticipation. “But it will have to wait until tomorrow. For now, we all need to get back to training.”

“Sir!” the quartet echoes in unison.

Shang turns away and walks to Chi-Fu, who is still scribbling things on his noteboard. “Pretty impressive, wouldn’t you say?”

Chi-Fu scoffs and rolls his eyes. “I suppose those three newcomers have potential,” he admits with a shrug. “But three competent soldiers does not a battalion make, Captain. And need I remind you that your unit lives or dies based on _my_ personal recommendation?”

Shang shakes his head, definitely not in need of another reminder that his fate is in the hands of this odious little man who wouldn’t know good soldiering if it poked him with a sword.

He takes a deep, calming breath and fixes in his mind the image of his ultimate goal: Standing with his father in the Imperial palace with the Emperor, toasting to a spectacular victory that Shang’s troops had provided.

With that happy thought firmly in place, he heads out to train his soldiers.

**KH-KH-KH**

After several long, grueling hours of training, Mulan leads the offworlder trio to a private campsite a few yards from the main campground, a quiet spot where she and Azlyn can doff their disguises for a while without feeling in danger of being found out.

Luckily Mulan brought a spare tent, and it’s the work of but a few minutes to set up both of them underneath the twilit sky.

“Hey, Sora?” Telary asks the Keybearer after Mulan has checked into her and Azlyn’s shared tent for the night. “Back at camp, when Shang asked for your name… why did you use the name Roxas?”

Sora frowns, resting his rump on a small boulder. “Y’know, Telary, I actually don’t know. It just kind of came to me.”

“You just rearranged your name and put an ‘X’ in the middle,” Azlyn points out with a dismissive eye roll. “Kinda stupid if you ask me.”

“Well I _didn’t_!” Sora spits back, vicious enough that Telary looks at him in shock. The boy’s tone is different from when he and Azlyn are merely joking around, which Telary has had plenty of opportunities to get familiar with. It’s rare to hear that much anger in Sora, especially directed at his friend.

Azlyn wisely decides to drop it, instead turning to Telary with a smile. “And why did you tell the captain your name was Riku?” she asks, cocking her head to the side as her grin widens.

The wizard shrugs. “Well,” he says, biting the inside of his cheek, “everyone else got to have a fake army name!”

They all laugh for a long minute, each one of them grateful for the opportunity to just share a moment as friends.

“Would you crazy kids keep it down!” Mushu yells, half-sticking out of the flap in Mulan's tent. “People are tryin’ to sleep here, y’know!”

“It’s okay, Mushu,” Mulan says, emerging from the tent. With the ribbon out of her hair it falls to just below her shoulders, waving loosely in the mild breeze. She bleakly trots over to the trio and sits, sighing deeply and looking away to the mountain range looming in the distance. “I’m having trouble sleeping anyway.”

“Nervous?” Telary asks, frowning sympathetically.

“Scared?” Sora also inquires.

“I knew that batch of rice we had at dinner tasted funny,” Azlyn mutters with a shake of her head, one hand rubbing lightly at her stomach.

“I guess I am nervous, and scared,” Mulan says after a minute, looking at Telary and Sora in turn. She turns her gaze to the ground, something melancholy coming over her. “But most of all, I just miss my family. And I… I hope they can understand why I did what I did. That’s my biggest fear, I think. That no matter what happens, I’ll return home and it’ll just be…” She trails off, tears falling down her cheeks.

“They will,” Sora says after a second of letting the young woman release her pent up emotions. “Understand I mean.” He moves to sit next to her. “I know that the specifics are different but… I had to leave behind someone I love too. I know she understood, she even told me I should go but… It’s hard.”

They all sit under the stars like that for another ten minutes, mostly silent until the time comes for goodnights. As Mulan and Azlyn head for their tent, Sora tells Telary to go ahead and take theirs for himself. Tonight, Sora just wants to sleep beneath the stars.

As he lies back on the thick blanket beneath him, he does what he always does nowadays when he looks at a starry sky: Wonders which one is his home, where Kairi is waiting for his return, and which one Riku is on, what he’s doing.

He only gets a few minutes of contemplation before he starts to feel sleep encroaching upon him, slowly taking all of his thoughts and worries and consigning them to the comforting darkness of slumber.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora’s eyes snap open abruptly, taking in the morning light for only seconds before looking down to see what impacted so fiercely on his chest as to rouse him from slumber.

It’s Mushu, moaning and groaning as he rises to a standing position, swaying almost drunkenly.

“I told you,” Telary says, sighing as he scrapes the last bit of breakfast into a small bowl. “Azlyn does _not_ like to be woken up early. Even on Christmas we have to send Captain Goofy in fully armored.”

“Well I think miss big bad warrior woman can take one early morning!” Mushu shoots back, leaping off Sora’s chest. “I mean, it’s not like the fate of the Fa family rests on today or nothin’, to say the least for my job…”

“Oh, good Sora, you’re up!” Telary says brightly, handing the Keybearer a bowl of porridge. Without a word, Sora digs in, taking the bowl to his lips and gulping down as much as he can in one mouthful.

After a minute, Azlyn and Mulan emerge from their tent, Sora and Ping disguises prepared for the day. Telary passes them both porridge, which they eat quickly.

After ten minutes and much berating from Mushu to get their butts in gear, the gang reaches Shang’s command tent, a large red structure tucked into the northwest corner of the camp.

The inside of the tent is mostly taken up by a large tactical map set up on a low table. Shang, fully armored, sits cross-legged on a cushion in front of the table, and in the background Chi-Fu and his ever present noteboard watch the proceedings skeptically.

“Our scouts have reported some troubling sightings nearby,” Shang says with zero preamble, frowning at the assembled group, with special emphasis on Mulan/Ping. “We still have no information on those creatures that attacked us yesterday, but there have been several sightings of a mysterious figure in a black coat…”

“Black coat!” Sora exclaims without thinking. “Does that mean the Org…?”

Azlyn elbows him hard and he abruptly shuts his mouth, well aware of Shang and Chi-Fu’s eyes on him.

“What is it, Roxas?” Shang asks. “Do you know something about this?”

“Uh, no sir I do not,” Sora lies, shaking his head. “I was just, um… I just blurt things sometimes. SEVEN! See?” The boy chuckles sheepishly under the confused gaze of the captain, and Chi-Fu clucks his tongue disapprovingly as he adds a few new scribbles.

“Well try to hold it in for today, Roxas,” Shang says with a note of reproach, “because I’m sending you four out on a scouting mission to the place of the cloaked man’s last sighting. You’re to thoroughly search the area and see to it that either he is found, or the rumors are disproven entirely.”

“That’s it?” Azlyn complains, chipping away a little more at Shang’s confidence in these three mysterious warriors.

“I’m sure it will be a very difficult mission that will require the best of our skills,” Telary cuts in. He glances at Mulan, who looks as tough as she can, which is not saying much. “Every one of us.”

Underneath Mulan's armor, Mushu is grateful that at least _someone_ remembers that the goal of this mission is to prop up Ping’s warrior cred. Hopefully there’ll be another dustup with those Heartless, an opportunity for Mulan to save the day.

“We can do it no problem!” Mulan declares in her boisterous man voice. “Because we’re men, all three… No, _four_ , of us, and hunting down things, and subsequently killing them is a very manly, warriorlike thing to do.”

“I should hope your self-confidence bears out, Ping,” Shang says coolly. “Because if not… Well, you’re aware of the consequences of failure. Dismissed.”

It takes a few minutes to reach the area Shang had designated on the map, and the group immediately splits up to begin their search. Telary and Azlyn take one half of the area, and Sora and Mulan the other.

“Um, Sora,” Mulan says after a few minutes of poking around, searching for any sign of someone staying here in the past few days, “can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” he says, closely examining the trunk of a tree.

“You told me about those Heartless things from camp last night,” the disguised girl says, “but today when Captain Shang mentioned the man in the black coat, it sounded like you knew something about him too. Do you?”

Sora pauses his search and nods. “Yeah, it sounds like he’s a member of this no-good Organization XIII me Azlyn and Telary have been hearing about,” he says, scowling. “They’ve been showing up all over and causing trouble places. We saw them once, but they got away.”

“Hm,” Mulan says thoughtfully. “Y’know, if these guys are so intent on causing trouble, then maybe, somehow, they’re connected to Shan-Yu. Would that be possible?”

Sora shrugs. “I guess so. But y’know, I really don’t have any idea what these guys want, so I can’t say for certain.”

They all search for most of the afternoon, stopping only once for a paltry meal break to get their energy up. When the sun starts to once again dip in the sky and they’re still all empty-handed, they decide to pack it in.

“What, are you crazy?” Mushu exclaims, his tongue twitching in exasperation. “After all we did to talk up this mission for Ping, you’re just gonna report failure to the captain?”

“Well, they _were_ just rumors and vague scout reports,” Telary brings up. “Maybe the captain will understand.”

Mushu sniffs disdainfully, arms crossed over his yellow underbelly. “And maybe the Huns’ll get bored and decide to go home and take a nap! There’s gotta be _something_ we can… Aha!”

Going down on all fours, the guardian dragon skitters over to a nearby pinecone, laying on the ground a few feet from the base of a tree. He picks it up and examines it for a second before sucking in a deep breath. When he lets it out, a gust of orange flame follows, and in seconds the pinecone is burnt to a crisp.

“What’s that about?” Azlyn asks, frowning.

Mushu holds the burnt cone out to Mulan, who gingerly takes it. “All we have to do is say that we found this near a stone circle, where the black-coated man must have made his fire.” The dragon slowly clicks his claws together, deep in contemplation. “Yes, yes, I see it all now. We stumbled upon the dastardly ruffian, but he proved too strong for the Three Stooges there…”

“Hey!” Sora objects.

“…And only due to the timely intervention of Ping, the greatest warrior in this man’s army, was the foe routed heroically!”

“Oh, oh!” Azlyn chimes in, jumping up and down, clearly excited about the story crafting opportunity. “And as he ran away, he threw that flaming pinecone at us, and Ping was _forced_ to stay behind and save us from the inferno!”

“Oh, girl, you have got yourself a real talent there!” Mushu congratulates the knight, who acquiesces with a smile and small bow.

“I don’t know…” Mulan says nervously. “But, if it helps my family…”

After Telary makes a cursory argument against using deception that is summarily ignored by the untruth tag team that is Azlyn and Mushu, the group sets out back for the camp, a journey of another half hour.

But they’re only about five minutes out, just cresting a hill that overlooks the camp, when suddenly Sora points something out.

“Look down there!” he yells, Keyblade already grabbed from the holster he’d fashioned into his armor so as to not alarm any soldiers with his magically appearing weapon.

Following his finger, the group sees that charging across the flat grass plain before the camp is a small force of Heartless, mostly odd centaur-like creatures wielding spears.

“Guess we won’t need that pinecone after all!” Azlyn says gleefully, already sprinting to meet the invasion force. After only seconds of hesitation the rest of the group follows her, Ping uneasily bringing up the rear.

Obviously the camp sentries have been able to spot the oncoming force as well, as several soldiers make their way to meet the enemy. A brave effort, but Sora still makes sure to put on his best speed to spare the unaware warriors the brunt of combat.

But, he thinks as he begins to engage an Assault Rider and notices Mulan coming along out of the corner of his eye, they should make an excellent audience for a bit of strategical performance art.

The pressure the Heartless puts on its spear is immense, but thanks to the Keyblade Sora is able to hold up against it. As Mulan closes in, sword drawn, he lets a bit of control slip, allowing himself to be driven to the ground by one knee.

“Ping!” the Keybearer cries with feigned alarm and weakness, hoping that he hasn’t placed himself in too much danger. “Ping, save me!”

“Sor… Roxas!” Mulan cries out, leaping towards the downed boy and bringing her ancestral sword down on the Assault Rider’s flank. The Heartless rears back in pain and shock, and Sora takes advantage of the moment to drive the Keyblade straight through its humanlike torso.

“Ping, I need help!” Telary cries out nearby, bashing his staff against a Nightwalker at half strength. Seeing his plight, “Ping” rushes the creature and runs it through.

Telary turns to look expectantly at Azlyn, who is rather easily mowing down any Nightwalker she can reach.

“Ahem!” the wizard calls out to get his counterpart’s attention. “Hey, ‘ _Sora_ ’!”

For a minute Azlyn just keeps going, forgetting about her alias in the heat of battle. After a second though, she looks at her counterpart oddly for a moment, idly kicking down another Nightwalker as she does so. Suddenly remembering, she takes a rather comical pratfall to the ground, allowing Ping time enough to arrive and save her.

With the Heartless force gone, suddenly the group finds themselves surrounded by cheering soldiers, some reaching out to give the conquering heroes affectionate swats on the arm. Even Yao and Ling seem impressed by the displayed battle prowess.

After a minute the soldiers quiet and part to allow Shang to walk through them. Seeing the captain, “Ping”, “Sora”, “Roxas”, and “Riku” all snap to a smart attention.

“Once again you three have proven yourselves fierce warriors, and valuable additions to my unit,” he says, smiling at each of the trio down the line. Finally he makes it to Ping, and miraculously his smile doesn’t fade. “And you, Ping, son of Fa Zhou, have impressed me far beyond what I thought was possible. I am honored to have you by my side in battle.”

“Uh, thank you, sir,” Ping says in his over-the-top gruff voice. “It means a lot to have you say that.”

Shang nods his acceptance of the thanks before turning back to the assembled troops. “While these four have proven exceptional skill in battle, you must all never forget what your hard work and training has done for you. Soon the time will come for us to face actual combat, and on that day, my wish is not that you would fight as well as Sora, or Roxas, or Riku, or Ping, but that you will fight for our country, and our Emperor, as the best version of yourself that you can be. If you do that, then trust me when I say that the Hun army will not stand a snowball’s chance in a dragon’s mouth!”

Later in the evening, after a few dozen retellings of the story of their battle, Mulan and her group decide that it is time to retire for the night. Azlyn is especially grateful, as her helmet prevents her from eating openly with the rest of the camp.

Their route home takes them past Chi-Fu’s tent, inside which a loud argument can be clearly heard. The group stops, watching the shadows of Shang and Chi-Fu as they engage in a verbal bout every bit as fierce as the combat they had experienced earlier.

“But they _are_ ready!” Shang argues, his fists clenched tightly in rage. “You’ve seen them in training! Every one of those men would gladly give their lives in service to this country.”

“At the rate they are progressing, every man among this company _will_ end up giving his life,” Chi-Fu fires back, shaking his head.

“But with Sora, and Roxas, and…”

Chi-Fu sniffs loudly. “I will remind you once again that three competent soldiers does not a battle-ready company make, captain. At least not in my estimation. And since my estimation is the only one that matters at the moment…”

“But please, you have to just…”

“The only thing I _have_ to do is my duly appointed job, boy.” There’s a brief pause before the advisor goes in for the kill. “Which I got _without_ my daddy’s help, by the way.”

Shang emerges from the tent angrily, a stormy look marring his normally so cool features.

“Hey,” Mulan says in her Ping voice, stepping close to the captain, “how about you hold him, and _I’ll_ punch!”

For a moment Shang just looks confused, but he soon smiles and places a thankful hand on Mulan's shoulder before walking away.

“Oh my goodness,” Mushu sighs, emerging from Mulan's armor and glaring at his charge. “You _like_ him, don’t you?”

“What?” Mulan replies incredulously, shaking her head. “No I don’t! I was just trying to, uh y’know…”

“Yep, you’ve got it bad!” Azlyn concludes, her helmeted head shaking back and forth.

“Even _I_ can see it!” Sora agrees, grinning slyly. Beside him, Telary nods.

Mulan scoffs and stalks away, heading for the campsite. Sora and Telary follow her, but Mushu skitters out of Mulan's armor and climbs to Azlyn’s shoulder.

“Speaking of getting things bad,” the guardian dragon whispers to the disguised knight, “if that stupid pen-pusher doesn’t let us mobilize, I’ll never get… Uh, I mean, Mulan’ll never get a chance to skyrocket her family’s honor!”

Azlyn nods. “I agree,” she says in a whisper that barely makes it through her helmet. “And besides, how lame would it be to finally get to a world where there’s a war on and never actually fighting in it?”

The pair hide behind a few supply barrels and wait. Surely enough, it only takes minutes for Chi-Fu to emerge, wrapped in a fluffy towel and heading off for a bath in the nearby river. As soon as he clears the nearest tent row, Azlyn sneaks in.

The advisor’s tent is large and well lit, and in one corner sits a desk. Azlyn moves to it and Mushu hops onto the table, picking up a freshly written letter from Chi-Fu to some General Li, presumably Shang’s father.

“Oh this simply will not do!” the dragon exclaims, crumpling the letter into a ball and setting it ablaze. He grabs a fresh sheet of paper while Azlyn pulls an inkwell closer. Mushu, the only one of the pair able to write the language, dips a pen into the well and begins to write.

_Son,_

_The Hun army grows ever closer to the Tung-Shao pass, and I fear the troops I have will not be enough. The time has come for you and your men to join me in the fight against the vile Shan-Yu. You are to leave camp immediately to meet me at the village nearest the pass._

_Your Father,_

_General Li_

“Perfect!” Azlyn says as she reads over Mushu’s prose.

“Why yes it is!” the dragon brags, letting out a satisfied puff of flame. “And now all we need is a little four-legged assistance…”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Ruffians!” Chi-Fu yells back at the rowdy bunch of soldiers bathing in the river, who had been nothing but mean to him when all he wanted was a nice bath. Wrapping his towel tighter around his scrawny body, the Emperor’s advisor turns to head back to camp, unexpectedly coming face to face with a panda.

Chi-Fu screams like a little girl, noticing the brawny, helmeted man riding atop the panda as if it were a horse. In his hand, the man holds a rolled up scroll of parchment.

“Message, for Captain Li Shang!” the man bellows deeply, poking Chi-Fu in the stomach with his tied tube. “Urgent, from the front!”

Chi-Fu regards the man, and his panda, skeptically. “And who exactly are you?”

“Who am _I_?” the man cries out, offense in every syllable. “We are at _war_ man, which means I ain’t got time for any stupid questions!” He shoves the scroll in Chi-Fu’s and spurs his mount onward.

Chi-Fu regards the retreating man skeptically for a moment before unfolding the scroll in his hands. After all, a message for the captain should surely be alright for the Emperor’s personal advisor to take a gander at.

As he reads, his eyebrows fly up to his forehead. As soon as he’s done, he pulls his towel even tighter and makes for the camp at a flat sprint.

“Hook, line, and sinker,” Azlyn whispers to Mushu, taking off her helmet and allowing the guardian to skitter out from where he had been providing the messenger’s voice. The pair share a high five.

Not far away, Sora and Telary emerge from the river, freshly scrubbed and heading for their clothes. As they reach the shore, Telary keeps pressure on his aching eye.

“Now I remember why I hate locker rooms!” the wizard declares, frowning.

Sora shrugs. “Oh, you know we were just messing around,” he says nonchalantly. “Besides, I was totally aiming for Yao. You just got in the way!”

“Have a nice bath?”

Both boys nearly jump out of their skins, grabbing for the clothes piled at their feet and hastily covering up. In front of them, Azlyn reclines by a tree, helmet off and smirking.

“What are you _doing_ , Azlyn?” Telary demands, shivering in the cold night air. “If anyone saw you with your helmet off…”

The knight snorts. “Yeah, _I’m_ the one who needs to worry about exposure right now.”

“Would you just turn around?” Sora growls. With a sigh, the girl acquiesces, and the boys scramble to dress, not assured that there won’t be any peeking on their companion’s part. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Just thought I’d tell you boys to check out if those magic clothes have any warmer settings,” she says, turning around to see the boys tugging on their pants. “Because come this time tomorrow, we’ll all be running maneuvers in the snowy mountains of the Tung-Shao pass.”


	6. Shall Not Pass

It takes some time to get the camp’s essentials packed and ready, but thanks to a well-planned system and the fervent energy of several dozen men taking on their first military assignment, Captain Li Shang’s troops are already most of the way to the Tung-Shao pass by mid-afternoon. The rest of the soldiers in the area, led by Shang’s father, have been stationed at a village near the pass and should be waiting for Shang’s arrival.

The fact that they actually _aren’t_ lingers in Azlyn’s mind as she and Telary work together to haul a cart full of rockets through a thin layer of mountain snow. She admits privately that it may have been a mistake to meddle with military operations, but certainly things will work out for the best.

She hopes.

“It’s awfully convenient,” Telary says casually, grunting as he gives the cart handle a hard tug to pull it through a small snowbank.

Azlyn raises an eyebrow at her counterpart, though he obviously can’t see it through her concealing helmet.

“I promise you, Riku,” she replies, addressing him by his alias just in case, “there is absolutely nothing ‘convenient’ about having to haul this cart up a mountain.”

“That’s not what I mean,” the wizard says with a sigh, looking at Azlyn out of the corner of his eye. “I mean, it’s awfully convenient that on the very night Chi-Fu rejects the troops’ fitness, we get a message from some general telling us to join up at the front lines.”

Azlyn shrugs and looks away. “You know how things turn out for us,” she says, sounding nonchalant. “Maybe this is some kind of Keybearer destiny thing, who knows? I certainly don’t, and you know what they say: Don’t put a gift in a mouthy horse.”

Telary rolls his eyes. “First of all, that’s not the saying,” he sighs. “You mean ‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’…”

“Speaking of horses, it sure would be nice to have one right about now, eh?” Azlyn interrupts, deflecting the conversation entirely.

Telary knows he could try another push towards the dialogue he wants, but figures that at this point, it’s effectively useless to try. And besides, pulling the big heavy ammunition cart requires his much more of his attention.

Several paces up ahead, Sora runs through the snow with wild abandon, stomping his armored feet through the cold white substance and kicking it up into the air in frozen geysers.

A light dusting of it comes down on Ling, who frowns and shakes it off, looking annoyed with the boy’s antics.

“What’s with you, Roxas?” he asks with a slight chuckle. “You’re running around acting like you’ve never seen snow before.”

The Keybearer stops in his tracks and looks at the skinny soldier sheepishly. “Well, uh, y’see,” he says, trying to keep from stammering, “I come from an island pretty far away from here, so actually I never _have_ seen this… uh, snow?”

Ling nods, but Yao gives the nearby Ping a mischievous smile.

“So that means you’ve never thrown a snowball either, eh?” the short soldier says, reaching down to scoop up a powdery white handful. He begins to pat it carefully.

“Um, no,” Sora replies, warily watching as Yao forms the snow into a lumpy but recognizable sphere. “What do you do with…? Hey!”

The snowball makes hard contact with Sora’s chest armor, losing its integrity and exploding into smaller fragments and fine powder. The trio of Yao, Ling, and Chien Po erupt into a fit of happy giggles.

“So, it’s a fight you want, huh?” Sora declares boldly, scooping up his own snowy handful. He takes a second to carefully form it, but before he can make it, he’s hit with another snowball from behind, staggering him and dropping his creation to the ground. Turning, he sees Ping giving him a playful grin. Behind him, the soldiers laugh even louder.

“Would you cut that incessant racket out?” Chi-Fu yells from his mounted position on a small horse, the only man to be afforded such luxury on this journey. “I am trying to do my stress meditations! We could run into the Huns or those scary creatures at any minute, and it’s playing havoc with my poor nerves.”

“Well excuse me, Princess Prissybottom,” Yao grumbles back at the emperor’s advisor. Chi-Fu gives the little man a last disdainful sniff before turning away once more. Once the man’s back is turned, Yao turns back to his compatriots and nods to him, already gathering up more snowball ammo. Getting his drift, the others follow suit.

Mulan frowns at the antics. “Uh, guys, maybe you should…”

“Ahem!” Mushu speaks up from inside the disguised young woman’s armor. Making sure the others are too busy with their snowballs, he sticks his head up out of the back. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Well,” she says with a frown, “Chi-Fu has a lot of pull with the emperor, and that gives him power over Shang. If those guys get him upset… They could all be in big trouble!”

Mushu shakes his scaly head, eyes rolling. “Girl, do you know nothing about male bonding?” the guardian sighs. “Getting in trouble together is the quickest way for a bunch of guys to get close. And you _do_ wanna be one of the boys, dontcha?”

Mulan frowns, biting her lip nervously.

“Hey, Ping, what gives?” Ling whisper-yells at his hesitating comrade. “Too chicken to help us ruffle this guy’s feathers a bit?”

Mulan laughs, all traces of doubt gone as she scoops up a big handful of snow and begins patting.

Once all of their ammo is prepared, the giggling quintet begin to creep up on the unaware advisor as quietly as they can, all of them grinning in anticipation. As a group they manage to get within only two or so feet of their target, arms rearing back to hurl their icy ammunition…

“Company, halt!” Shang’s commanding voice barks from the head of the column, startling the troublemakers into stillness. Chen Po, who has a snowball at least triple the size of the others’ held up above his bald head, drops his payload in surprise, coating the troublemaking group in fine powder.

Looking up, the entire company sees a haze of thick smoke rising into the air, high enough to block out the sun. Frowning, Sora rushes to investigate, the others following along closely at his heels.

In moments they reach the front of the line, where Shang stands in shock, surveying the valley below where the village his father is stationed at is situated.

Or at least, where it once was.

The entire town, every building from the largest to smallest, smolders with red fire, blackened husks of once sturdy structures laying weakly in the snow. Everything is quiet, and there is no one to be seen.

“Captain,” Sora whispers to Shang, who looks just as shocked as anyone, “what should we…?”

“Come along men!” Shang orders, closing his eyes momentarily to keep his composure. “Things look bad here but… We have to investigate.”

The troops approach the still burning village warily, highly alert for any signs of survivors or trouble. But there’s nothing, grim silence only broken by the sound of burning wood and feet sloshing through melted snow.

The heat inside the smoldering wreckage is nearly unbearable, a stark contrast to the cold of the mountain climate. As a result, a thin mist hangs over everything. And that’s nothing compared to the thick, smoky smell rolling off every destroyed construction.

The troops spend perhaps ten minutes searching every street. Sora and Mulan wander through the remains of what must have been a house once. Spotting something on the ground, the disguised young woman bends down to retrieve it.

It’s a doll, a tiny sewn together home creation with smooth black stones for eyes. Mulan gazes at it sadly for a long moment before looking away, a tear running down her cheek.

They assemble in the village square later, and every group that comes back seems to report the same thing; massive damage all around, but no evidence of death or bodies.

“Well that’s okay, right?” Ling says, trying hard to keep from stammering. “If there aren’t any bodies, that means they survived, right?”

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary frown at each other, all three of them having deduced the reason for the lack of bodies many minutes ago. After all, they’d never known the Heartless to leave remains in their wake.

None of them get the chance to speak up, as seconds after Ling’s hopeful question Shang arrives, an ornate, open-faced helmet in his hands. The feather sticking out of it is singed badly, half of it completely gone.

Hearing a collective gasp, Sora turns to Mulan.

“That’s the helmet of an army general,” she explains with a mournful sigh. “It must have belonged to Shang’s father.”

“Oh no…” Telary breathes, his green eyes filling with tears.

Shang moves past his assembled troops slowly, eyes hard and saying nothing as he walks out of the village’s ruined gate.

Mulan follows him, letting Mushu slither out and into Sora’s armor before moving after the captain. Shang stands several yards outside the village, and the disguised young woman respectfully stops a few feet away. The doll from the ruined house is still gripped in her hands.

With a smooth motion Shang draws his sword, driving it hard into the snow-covered ground. Dropping to one knee, he bows his head and balances his father’s helmet on the weapon’s hilt.

For a long moment he stays absolutely still, and whether he is praying, or crying, or something else Mulan does not know. Cautiously, she begins to approach, stopping just a foot away from the grieving soldier.

“I…” she says, closing her eyes and forcing words through the dark emotions clouding her. “I’m so sorry.”

Shang raises up his head and looks at Ping, stone-faced. The young soldier offers down a hand to help him up, which the captain gratefully accepts, rising to his feet. He places a hand on her armored shoulder, and Mulan feels a rush of something odd at the touch, completely at odds with the terrible sadness that has gripped her since finding the doll.

The contact lasts only a moment before Shang walks away. Once he’s moved far enough away, Mulan allows more tears of her own to fall as she slowly, respectfully lays the doll against the embedded sword’s blade.

Back in the village, Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Mushu sit far away from the other soldiers, each one of them devastated by the destruction all around.

“The Heartless were here,” Sora sighs heavily. He looks around at the ruins for perhaps the hundredth time in only a few minutes. “That’s the only explanation for the… the…” He closes his eyes to regain composure. “Why there’s no bodies.”

“The Heartless definitely account for the missing villagers,” Telary says, “but they wouldn’t have had to burn down the village. That was done just out of spite.”

“Shan-Yu,” Mushu says, sighing dejectedly. “This has got his dirty Hun fingerprints all over it. He won’t stop until all of China looks just like this.”

“We are so gonna mess that guy up,” Azlyn swears, her grumbling voice echoing around her enclosed helmet.

“Quite the scene, isn’t it?” a voice drawls from behind the group. Recognizing it immediately, Sora springs up and whips out the Keyblade, holding it in battle position as he faces down a man in a black coat. From his build and voice, he’s easily identifiable as the Organization XIII member who had appeared to taunt them at Hollow Bastion.

“What are you doing here?” Azlyn seethes, also battle ready. Telary stays seated beside her, but keeps a hand in his staff just in case.

The black-cloaked figure shrugs. “Just scoping things out,” he says lazily, his dark hood looking around. “This kinda thing tends to stir up some big time emotions, and I’m always trying to perfect my imitations of them.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Sora nearly spits at the hooded Nobody. “I think that you had something to do with it. And the attack on the camp too!” The Keybearer steps forward, his scowl only growing deeper. “Did you give Shan-Yu the Heartless somehow? Teach him how to use the Darkness?”

The Nobody scoffs loudly. “Uh, hello!” he chuckles. “I don’t know what you heard about us Nobodies, but we work in Nothingness, not Darkness. How could _I_ give anyone control of the Heartless?”

Sora frowns, at a loss for an answer. Desperate, he looks to Telary, but the wizard just shrugs, no theories or suggestions coming to mind.

“Don’t assume that just because I’m some no-heart monster I’m responsible for all the bad things that go down in the universe,” the Organization member chides the group. “In fact, Darkness is something that exists in every _heart_. And seeing as I don’t have one… Well, anyway, if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that people can go bad all on their own, no nudging necessary. Surely a big time Keyblade hero like you knows all about that, eh?”

Sora lowers the Keyblade, thinking back to a world very different than this one, and a malicious hunter who had given so totally into Darkness that he had become barely more than a mindless vessel for its power. The boy hadn’t recognized it at the time, but now he knows that that experience taught him much about the fallibility of the human heart.

But not as much as the betrayal and descent of his own best friend.

There’s a loud rushing sound, and Sora breaks from his reverie just in time to notice a portal of Darkness enclose the mysterious Nobody. By the time he’s able to react, nothing remains of the hooded man but footprints in the snow.

“If that guy wasn’t on my last nerve before,” Azlyn growl’s behind the Keyblade wielder, “he definitely is now.” Sora nods his agreement.

“Uh, guys?” Ling’s voice suddenly cuts in. Shocked, the group turns around and Mushu skitters into Telary’s armor as quickly and quietly as he can. “What’s going on? I thought I heard somebody else here…”

“Uh, nope,” Telary says quickly, standing up and shaking his head. “Just us three here, talking.”

Ling’s eyebrow stays raised for another few seconds as he looks over the group, but after a moment he shrugs and returns to normal. “Anyways, the captain is gathering the troops in the town square. I think he’s gonna say a few words before we get marching.”

The trio files in with the assembled soldiers in the former town square. The fires have all been put out by now, the only light coming from hazy, smoke-filtered sunlight. It casts an appropriate pall over the grave situation.

Shang stands before the assembly, his expression grave but resolute. “We cannot let this horror deter us, or weaken our resolve. The enemy has struck a mighty blow this day, that much is true. General Li… My father was stationed here with a force of two hundred men, which was thought to be an adequate force to defend his pass and the Imperial City beyond it.” He closes his eyes for a moment, but when he opens them they’re clear again. “Now, we are all that is left. The last line of defense for our honored and revered emperor. Though this is a heavy load to bear, I am confident in the ability of every last one of you men to do your duty to the fullest, no matter the consequences. Now let’s move out!”

The pleasant, spirited air of the march up the mountain is gone now, every soldier moving quietly. The only sounds to be heard are the crunching of boots through snow and the whistling of the wind.

Sitting alone in the ammunition cart, Mushu breathes out a heavy sigh of sadness, wondering just what it is that he’s actually gotten himself and Mulan into.

Unfortunately, the dragon’s sigh unleashes a long tongue of flame, lighting the fuse of a dragon’s head missile in a blaze of light. Mushu gasps and rushes to put it out, but he’s too late. The fuse runs down and sparks the rocket, sending it flying out of the cart with a long stream of grey smoke trailing behind it.

The entire column stops and stares as the missile flies into the air with a whistle that rivals the wind, climbing perhaps twenty feet high before exploding in a large, very obvious burst of flame.

Telary and Azlyn turn back to glare at Mushu, who only smiles thinly and gives a sheepish shrug in return.

“What is going on?” Shang demands, marching up to the cart haulers with a scowl. Behind him, Sora and Mulan let out twin sighs, each one sure that their companions are somehow responsible for this mess.

“Well, uh, the thing about this, sir, is that, um…” Telary stutters and stammers, quivering under the captain’s gaze.

“You completely gave away our position!” Shang roars, which is probably also giving away their position. “Do you have any idea…?”

Shang’s rant is cut off by a sudden yellow streak swooping in from above. It impacts the captain and sends him to the ground. For a moment the creature just hovers, a yellow armored thing that resembles the beak of a bird, a tiny propeller on its back keep it airborne. The symbol of the Heartless is emblazoned prominently on it.

Sora barely has time to get out the Keyblade before the lone Heartless is joined by a swarm of identical monsters, each one dive bombing the long column of soldiers.

Two Rapid Thrusters make for Shang, but Mulan and Sora step up to save their commanding officer, each taking care of one creature with a single blade swipe.

Sora helps Shang to his feet, earning a grateful nod in return. “You two have saved my life this day,” he says to the pair. “I will not forget this, and will be in your debt forever.”

Sora shrugs. “If you say so. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“As am I,” Mulan echoes, turning away to hide the small blush that stains her pale cheeks.

“Forward, men!” Shag yells, his strong voice managing to quell the fear of his soldiers. “There’s a group of rock outcroppings up ahead, and we can take cover there!”

Any of the soldiers’ earlier discipline seems to go out the window, everyone frantically scrambling for the supposed safety of a group of seven or eight large black rocks, buried in the snow only perhaps a dozen feet from the edge of a cliff.

Thinking quickly, Azlyn reaches into the ammunition cart and pulls out two rockets, one under each arm. Telary follows her lead, and Mushu skitters across the snow to join Mulan as she and Sora make a run for the rocks.

Heartless swoop down at Sora, seemingly focused on the Keybearer to the exclusion of all else. Sora’s glad that he’s taking the heat off his comrades, but at the same time he knows that he cannot keep this up forever.

A swarm of at least twenty Rapid Thrusters fly directly at him from above, armored beaks snapping open and shut and revealing the yellow-eyed spheres of Darkness inside.

The Keybearer stops and braces for impact, but suddenly a rocket streaks across the sky and barrels into the group of monsters, exploding spectacularly and clearing them away. Turning, Sora sees Telary kneeling behind the still smoking casing of the rocket, his staff out.

Another swarm comes and Azlyn takes care of it, knocking her shield against her armored chest and letting the sparks from it ignite the fuse on the dragon’s head missile.

With the air clear for a few seconds, the trio rush to join the rest of their compatriots underneath the overhang of the largest boulder in the cluster. The swarm soon coalesces again and charges for them, and the entire company as well.

Growling, Yao moves forward and aims a rocket, igniting it with a flint and sending it slamming into the mass of Heartless. It impacts heavily, the explosion sounding all across the frozen landscape. When the smoke from it clears, the air is empty of Heartless.

“Hold that last rocket,” Shang whispers to Telary, who grips the projectile tightly, almost protectively. “Those creatures maybe gone, but we still haven’t seen Shan-Yu yet.”

“Or any Huns at all,” Mulan adds, a thoughtful look on her face. Above there’s a loud screech, like a hawk taking flight.

Not a second later, a long, self-satisfied laugh rings out across the mountain, coming from higher up. Peeking out from underneath the rocks, the entire company looks up the long snowy hill they sit at the bottom of.

At the top of it, mounted on a horse with fur as black as night, is the large form of Shan-Yu, dressed in dirty grey and black furs. He laughs again, the noise echoing off the snowcapped peak still high above his position.

With a single smooth motion he draws a sword from a hilt fixed to his back. The blade is wickedly curved and jagged, a far cry from the straight steel wielded by Chinese Army troops. The bird that must have made the earlier noise, a huge tan falcon, lands on the Hun general’s shoulder, letting out another menacing cry.

At the sound of the cry, more men mounted on horseback appear at Shan-Yu’s side, a line of enemies that stretch all across the log hilltop. What’s worse, there are sure to be still more behind the front line, a massive invasion force that the small company of troops cannot hope to defeat.

“Prepare yourselves, men,” Shang declares, stepping from behind the protection of the rock, over a shivering Chi-Fu laying prone on the ground. He stands straight and tall, his red cape flapping in the wind. Slowly but surely the rest of the company joins him, drawing their blades and marching resolutely out into the open field. “If we are fated to die today, then we will do so with honor.”

Sora, Mulan, Azlyn, and Telary flank the captain, Sora and Mulan on the left, and Azlyn and Telary to the captain’s right.

“When they come,” the captain quietly tells Telary, who still clutches the last remaining rocket, “aim directly for Shan-Yu. If we take out their leader, we may still be able to…” He stops, sighs heavily. “Well, it may just give the emperor a chance, anyway.”

After a long minute of sitting immobile atop the hill, Shan-Yu lets out a great bellow that echoes all around, thrusting his sword forward and spurring his dark mare to action. He charges, and in no time at all the rest of his force joins him, every Hun letting out their own war cry.

A veritable swarm of them pour down the mountain like a flowing river, their numbers rivaling the Rapid Thruster swarm, their ferocity easily outmatching it.

“Get ready, Riku,” Shang orders, and Telary kneels down, propping the cannon up on a low rock and taking aim.

Mulan stands behind the captain, sword drawn and a nervous, terrified expression on her face. At least, she thinks to herself, it is her facing this fight, and not her father. She may lose her life here on this mountain, but when she does, it will be with the satisfaction that she has done the right thing for her father.

Still, she looks down, eyes inadvertently focusing on the flat of her ancestral sword. Something in the metal’s reflection catches her eye, and looking closer she sees the still, tall peak looming over the field of battle. The tall, snow-covered…

Suddenly, a burst of inspiration hits the disguised young woman, and she rushes forward, passing Sora, who gives her a bewildered look before following.

“Steady, Riku,” Shang tells Telary, his voice calm as the young man lines up his only shot. “In just a few seconds Shan-Yu will be in range.”

Telary fights hard the urge to shake, calling upon the same reserve of calm he feels behind the controls of the Gummi ship. But it’s not quite enough, and he gulps loudly.

Suddenly, he feels a weight on his shoulder pad. Looking up, he sees the helmeted head of Azlyn, somehow projecting calm without an expression.

“You can do this, Tel,” she says lowly, hoping Shang won’t hear her using the wizard’s real name. He doesn’t’ appear to, far more focused on the charging army of Huns. “I believe in you complete… Aaaargh!”

The disguised knight goes down hard, falling down on Telary and knocking him over as well, pinning her friend to the ground. The sound breaks Shang out of his concentration, and he turns to see Ping, rocket in his arms, charging forward, toward the army of Huns with an almost suicidal determination.

“Ping!” he yells after the apparently mad soldier. Seconds later, another armored form streaks past him. “Roxas?”

Chien Po helps Azlyn and Telary to their feet as the captain starts after his apparently mad soldiers.

“What are they doing?” Azlyn grumbles, shaking her head to clear it. “ _Trying_ to get killed?”

Yao shakes his head. “No way. Ping’s gotta have a plan.” With a look of steely determination, the short man raises his sword. “And we’ve gotta help ‘em out!” Chien Po nods.

“Whaddya say, men?” Ling adds in, his sword also at the ready. “Let’s give those Huns a battle they’ll never forget!”

“Yeah!” Azlyn agrees, her shield raised in the air. “Let’s get ‘em!” With their longest, lustiest battle cry, Yao, Chien Po, Azlyn, and Ling charge.

Telary stares after them for a second, then takes a deep breath and follows after them decidedly less enthusiastically, staff held high.

Chi-Fu sticks his head out from behind his rocky hiding place and trembles as he watches, thumb firmly fixed in his mouth.

Mulan sprints perhaps three yards across the snowy terrain before dropping to her knees and aiming the rocket ignoring Shang’s bewildered cries from behind. Up ahead, Shan-Yu and his army come ever closer, but the young woman ignores the threat to focus her aim.

Sora catches up to her seconds later. “What are you doing, Mulan?”

“Uh, I wasn’t gonna say anything,” Mushu chimes in, jumping out of his charge’s armor and scratching his head, “being that I have one-hundred and ten percent faith in you, but I actually would like an explanation too.”

Shan-Yu bellows once more, and Sora looks up to see that the Hun general is only a few dozen or so feet away, and gaining fast.

“Y’know what,” the Keybearer says nervously, “I trust you, Mulan. Go ahead, no explanation needed.”

Mulan frantically searches her armor for a flint, or any piece of metal or rock she can use to make a spark. After all, there’s no way she’ll be able to light this rocket without…

Her gaze moves over Mushu, and an idea storms into her brain. She grabs the family guardian around the midsection and lifts him, lining up his mouth with the rocket’s fuse. With a strong tug she coaxes out a lick of flame, dropping the dragon straight onto the missile’s head once she’s done.

“Well, alright,” Mushu says as he watches the fuse burn down, “at least at this range…”

Just then Shan-Yu arrives, his horse rearing up and kicking Sora back a few steps. The Hun ignores the stumbling boy and turns instead to the soldier crouching at the cannon. There’s a loud noise as the rocket launches, shooting forward at incredible speed…

Straight past Shan-Yu.

“You missed!” Mushu can barely be heard as he and the rocket fly ever higher. “How could you miss, he was three feet in…”

The rest of the dragon’s rant is cut off as the rocket impacts the snowy mountain. There’s a muffled _thwump_ noise as it does, and a massive cloud of snow flies into the air. Not a second later, the rest of the snow clinging to the peak begins to slide, tumbling down towards the field of battle.

Shan-Yu turns and watches incredulously as the avalanche blazes down upon his troops. He allows himself only a second to take it in, however, before turning and looking down at the soldier with the cannon.

Drawing nerve from a reserve even she didn’t know she possessed, Mulan smirks at the most feared man in China.

The single act of smug superiority outrages Shan-Yu in a way that not even the desolation of his forces could. Growling, he swipes down with his jagged sword, catching the defiant soldier across the chest and sending him to the ground, stomach clutched in one arm.

Mulan staggers to her feet and begins to run heading back to the rocks and her friends, far away from the mad Hun with the sword and a grudge.

Shan-Yu calls for his steed to follow, but a sudden crack of thunder startles the beast, and it rears back in fear, already startled by the chaos all around. As he struggles to regain control, the wave of snow hits him, burying the Hun in a wall of pure cold.

Glad that his little tactic had worked, Sora sprints determinately after Mulan. In only moments they catch up with Shang, all three retreating.

Speaking of retreats, the sight of the raging avalanche evaporates Yao, Ling, and Chien Po’s resolve instantaneously, and the three men turn tail and run back for the safety of the rocks.

“C’mon!” Azlyn yells after them, barely breaking stride. Rolling her eyes, she doubles her pace, meeting Mulan, Sora, and Shang in the middle.

“We can’t outrun it!” Sora cries as the massive wave of icy doom chases after the group.

“Waaaaaaait!” Telary cries out, holding up his arms to stop the group. With a sigh, he moves past them, his staff out and ready. “Stand your ground here. I have an idea, and I think it has more of a chance to work than not.” He twirls his staff once in a circle.

“Are you insane, soldier?” Shang demands. “How is that staff supposed to…?”

“Brace yourselves everybody!” the mage cries, closing his eyes and reaching for the one spell that could save them all. Once his power is gathered, he faces the wall of snow only moments away from burying the group, staff raised. “One, two… REFLEGA!”

The instant before the snow hits, a perfect sphere of pure light surrounds all five of them, encasing them in its protection. But that’s not all, as the entire purpose of the spell is to take the momentum of enemy attacks and direct them back at the aggressor. With any luck, that principle will hold with a wall of snow as well.

It does, and suddenly all of the momentum of an avalanche slams back against itself, propelling the sphere of light containing the heroes backwards through the air, easily outracing the falling snow.

The only problem, which is something that unfortunately Telary only thinks of while airborne, is that it their current speed, the group just might overshoot the edge of the cliff.

The wizard racks his brain for another spell, one that can save their lives just as surely as his last had. This is not very easy to do while hurtling through the air, completely at the whim of harsh Mistress Gravity…

“Duh!” Telary exclaims, a little upset that such an obvious answer eluded him for so long. “Gravity!”

Putting as little energy into the spell as possible, Telary lets the magically controlled force pull them towards the snowy ground.

They land in a heap, luckily in deep enough snow patches that no one is injured, only dazed. The daze doesn’t last long, however, as everyone seems to remember at the same time that there is still an avalanche coming. With a last burst of speed, everyone manages to safely huddle behind the largest rock, underneath a natural stone overhang. Azlyn has to practically drag Telary along with her, the wizard severely drained from his high intensity magic use.

Only moments later, a deluge of snow hits the boulder with overwhelming force, but the stone is far too sturdy to be moved. For a solid two or three minutes the white frozen water rages past like an angered river, but soon things clear and the troupe emerges.

“Wow,” Yao says, peering over the cliff’s edge.

“Three cheers for Ping!” Ling cries out suddenly, throwing his hands in the air. “The man who singlehandedly defeated the Hun army!”

The entire company cheers, and even Chi-Fu crawls out from behind his rock to join in the celebration.

“Once again, you have proven yourself,” Shang congratulates Ping, one hand on his arm.

Suddenly though, the young soldier falters, falling to his knees. He gingerly presses a hand to his chest, and it comes away bloody, a line of bleeding red straight across where Shan-Yu had struck with his sword.

Shang gasps. “Help! Medic!” he yells, and two blue armored soldiers apparently trained in healing rush forward, while another set furiously work to pitch a tent. The captain turns to Sora, seeing the still dazed Telary laying across Azlyn’s lap. “Is Riku going to be okay?”

Sora winces at the statement, suddenly wishing that Telary had taken another name for his army persona. He turns back to look at his companion though, who is currently blinking rapidly and muttering some nonsense.

“He’ll be fine,” the Keybearer assures officer. “Just give him a second.”

Shang nods, looking stern. “Once Ping is alright, we _will_ be having a talk about that odd… magic your friend worked. Count on that.”

Sora winces, watching the captain walk away. Shaking his head to clear it, he moves to sit next to Azlyn and the confused wizard.

“He okay?” Sora asks, not actually sounding very concerned through the haze of his weariness.

Azlyn shrugs. “Yeah, I think so,” she replies, moving a strand of red hair off her counterpart’s forehead. She chuckles lightly, tilting her head. Miraculously, or perhaps through the magic of sorcerer clothes, the bucket helmet managed to stay on even during the flight through the air.

“What?”

“It’s just…” the knight sighs, stroking the wizard’s forehead once more. “I think that’s the bravest thing I’ve seen Telary do outside a Gummi ship cockpit.”

Sora laughs, shakes his head. “No way,” he argues. Azlyn looks up at him, helmeted face impassive. Still, Sora can sense her confused mood. “The bravest was totally the time he saved me from that fireball Riku shot at me in Hollow Bastion. Which was definitely more than you were ready to do.”

Azlyn’s sigh can clearly be heard rattling around her helmet. “Never letting it go, are you?”

“Nope.”

There’s a sudden gasp from Telary, and Sora and Azlyn look down at their suddenly clear-headed companion, who only just barely manages to raise his head.

“Hey, man,” Sora greets the wizard with an almost sardonic wave. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“So we did survive?” the wizard asks, one eyebrow raised.

“Sure did,” Azlyn confirms.

“Good.” With that, he drops his head back into the knight’s lap, less confused but just as tuckered out.

“Do you think Mulan will be okay?” Sora whispers to Azlyn, eyeing the now fully set medical tent. The two medics are just now escorting the unconscious soldier inside.

“Probably,” Azlyn replies with a shrug. “That cut did look pretty nasty…”

“Cut?” Telary says, suddenly springing up into a sitting position. It’s too much movement too quickly, however, and he nearly falls back over until Sora manages to grab him and keep him up.

“Yeah,” Sora confirms. “Shan-Yu got her before I was able to distract him. Right across the stomach, too.”

“ _Stomach_!” Telary exclaims, clearly freaked. “She got cut on the stomach?”

Azlyn shrugs. “It can be a bad wound, and it definitely bleeds a lot, but…” Suddenly, the reason for the wizard’s freak-out hits her, harder than any avalanche. “Oh. Uh oh.”

“What?” Sora demands, looking back and forth between his friends.

“Sora,” Telary explains slowly, “she got cut in the _stomach_. Which is underneath her _chest_.”

“Yeah, so?”

“They have to take off clothes to get at the wound,” Telary continues.

“And…?”

“For Pete’s sake!” Azlyn grumbles. “What do you think will be the issue once they take off _Mulan’s_ clothes?”

In another second, the Keybearer picks up the gist, his mouth falling open in shock. “Oh, man,” he says, biting his lip nervously. “This could be bad.”

“What could be bad?” Mushu says from behind the group, who all turn to see the guardian dragon, apparently no worse for wear after his little experience riding an armed explosive into a mountain, walking up behind them on two clawed feet. “And hey, where is that Mulan? I got some words for her about using me as a lighter and dropping me on a live rocket!”

A nerve wracking half hour passes for the trio and Mushu, all of them huddling in their own group. Not far away they can see that Yao, Ling, and Chien Po are also very concerned for “Ping”, though obviously for different reasons.

Sora is the first to notice the medical officer emerge from his blue operating tent and call over Shang. The captain looks worried, but his look quickly transforms into shock as the man speaks. After a minute, he marches into the tent.

“Yeah, this is definitely going to suck,” Sora sighs.

In only seconds the captain reemerges, holding Mulan by the arm and drawing her out of the tent. Her armor and tunic are gone, and the layer of bandages around her torso preserves her modesty, but not her disguise. Shang, his eyes hard, yanks out the ribbon holding up the young woman’s hair, letting it fall to her shoulders. The entire company gasps.

“A woman!” Chi-Fu exclaims, rushing to Shang’s side. It only takes a second for the advisor’s shocked expression to fade to anger. “I knew that there was something off about you.”

“Shang, please listen!” Mulan pleas, but the words fall on deaf ears. “I was only trying to…”

“Reasons are irrelevant!” Chi-Fu interrupts, his glare only intensifying. “This is treason, you treacherous snake!”

“So she’s a snake, huh? Takes one to know one!” Azlyn cries out, reaching up and yanking the helmet off her head. There’s another gasp as the knight shakes out her blonde ponytail. “Yeah, _I’m_ a girl too! What of it? The name’s Azlyn, not Sora!”

“That’s actually _my_ name,” Sora chimes in, stepping up beside his companion. “I _am_ actually a guy though, if anybody was wondering.”

“Telary,” Telary admits sheepishly. “Also male. Also a big fat liar.”

Chi-Fu is beyond furious now, and he turns to the still stone-faced captain. “See here, captain. A _conspiracy_! This is even worse than I had thought! You know the law captain. All four of them must face justice! And the penalty for betraying the Imperial Army… Is _death_!”


	7. China's Bravest

For a long moment there is nothing but silence in the makeshift army camp, Chi-Fu furiously pointing his finger at the newly revealed trio of Sora, Azlyn, and Telary. From her position kneeling at Shang’s feet, Mulan turns her face away from the proceedings.

“Doesn’t that seem a bit extreme?” Telary blurts out, any conventional wisdom on negotiation deserting him in the face of capital punishment. “The ‘death’ thing, I mean.”

“The law,” Shang says through a jaw so tight that it seems impossible sound could escape it, “is the law.”

“The hell it is!” Azlyn blurts, dropping her helmet and rushing through the snow at the captain. She doesn’t get far before a pair of soldiers intercept her. The knight struggles for a moment, but soon another guard joins the first two, holding her down. “Let me go, you stupid…!”

“Azlyn!” Sora practically barks, cutting off his companion’s sure to be wrathful tirade. “You’re only making things…”

“Worse?” She kicks at the shin of one soldier, but the blow has no effect against the armor there. “How could I make this worse? They’re gonna kill…”

“Enough.”

Everyone stops paying attention to the struggling Azlyn and redirects their gazes to Mulan, shivering on her knees in the snow.

The formerly disguised girl looks up at Shang with wide, uncompromising eyes. “I knew full well what the consequence of my deception was. If I must pay it, then I will.” She returns her gaze to the snowy ground. “All I ask is that you tell my father I’m sorry.”

Shang glares down at Mulan, and everyone else in the camp looks on, riveted. After a moment of silence, Shang turns and ducks halfway into the medical tent, emerging with Mulan's sheathed ancestral sword. Slowly, he grabs hold of its hilt and draws it, the sound echoing over the silent summit valley.

With an enigmatic look, Shang raises the sword into the air. Mulan ducks her head away, and Sora and Telary do the same, not wanting to see what they know is about to happen next. Azlyn struggles even harder, but it seems useless.

Shang drops the sword.

It lands in the snow before the still shivering Mulan, just inside her peripheral vision. After a moment she turns her gaze back up to Shang, confusion evident on her face.

“I owed you a debt, Fa Mulan,” Shang says, his tone icier than the surrounding mountain winds. “A life for a life. My debt is paid.”

The captain’s gaze returns to Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, his eyes still as hard as stone. “You also saved my life, Roxas… Or rather, Sora. For this I spare you and your companions from justice as well. But you are expelled from this company.” He gives a nod, and the soldiers holding Azlyn back let go.

The knight says nothing else, only moves to help Mulan up off of the ground.

“Men!” Shang barks authoritatively at the remaining members of his company. The soldiers snap to full attention out of simple habit. “Let’s get moving. The emperor is waiting.” Without another word, he turns and begins to walk away, heading back the way the troupe had come up the mountain.

The soldiers file past the expelled quartet as well, and most pay no mind to them at all. Only Yao, Ling, and Chien Po spare sympathetic glances for their former comrades before solemnly marching off in a long line.

Things are quiet in the summit valley for a long time, and Sora soon realizes that half-an-hour has passed since any of the group have said a single word. Mulan has changed out of her armor, now dressed in a simple grey outfit, pants tucked into high boots and a martial arts robe with green lining around the sleeves, and the trio has similarly dismissed their armored disguises.

“How do I look?” she asks, something ironic in her voice, mouth turned down in a slight grimace.

“Girly as can be,” Sora replies with an attempt at a smile that falls woefully short.

“I want to thank the three of you for your help,” Mulan continues, giving each member of the trio a tiny smile. “If it weren’t for the three of you, I’d have been drummed out of the army on day one. I’m sorry I got you all in trouble.”

Sora shrugs. “It’s no big deal,” he says easily.

“I’m used to defying authority,” Azlyn adds. “I’ve done it plenty before, and this won’t be the last time either, I assure you.”

“So what are you going to do now, Mulan?” Telary asks, concerned.

The girl shivers slightly, and it hasn’t a thing to do with the cold mountain air. “I guess there’s only one thing I can do. Go back and face my father, tell him what happened.”

“He’ll understand, Mulan,” Sora assures his newest friend, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “After all, he’s your father. No matter what happens, he’ll still love you. Especially considering the risk you took for him.”

“Yeah, girl, you’ve got the easy part,” Mushu speaks up for the first time in nearly an hour. He looks sad, his head drooping lamely. “At least you’re going home to apologize to somebody who loves you. The people I answer to don’t even _like_ me!”

Telary raises an eyebrow at the tiny dragon. “What do you mean, Mushu?”

The guardian sighs, looking away from the enquiring group. “The thing is, guys, Mulan ain’t the only one who’s been lying these last few days.” After spending a moment with his eyes closed to gather strength, he looks up at his companions. “The truth is, I’m not _actually_ a family guardian.”

Everyone but Azlyn looks down at the lying dragon in shock.

“I can believe that,” the knight says with an easy nod

“I used to be a real guardian,” Mushu explains. “Then on one of my cases I kinda messed up big time.” He shakes his head, obviously haunted. “ _Bad_ stuff.”

“How bad?” Sora asks.

Mushu grimaces. “Let’s just say heads were lost. Literally.” The humans all clutch their necks at the thought.

“Hey, don’t either of you sweat it!” Sora announces, suddenly seeming very chipper. “When the time comes to assign blame, we’ll take our fair share.”

“You can count on us,” Telary agrees. “Like Azlyn said earlier, we know a lot about getting in trouble.”

“I fail to see how any part of this is _our_ fault,” Azlyn dissents. Sora and Telary both shoot the knight dirty looks, and she sighs. “But we’ll do whatever we can to help, of course. Because we’re heroes, and stuff.”

“Once again, thank you Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Mulan says, inclining her head respectfully. “You’re all true friends.”

The group are so caught up in their love fest that they fail to notice Shan-Yu’s pet falcon, the deadly Hayabusa, flying above them. After a minute of scanning the summit valley with keen eyes, the predatory bird lets out a screech and swoops low, searching for his master.

Hayabusa thoroughly scans a snowfield several miles below, out of which the various disregarded blades of fallen Huns caught in the avalanche stick up like grave markers. For long, agonizing moments there is nothing to be seen but the remains of slaughtered warriors.

Until suddenly a large, black-gloved hand bursts from a particularly high pile of snow, flailing about in the air, trying to clear away as much as it can. After seconds of agonized scrabbling, the snow falls away from the man underneath it.

With an agonized grunt, Shan-Yu finds his feet, shaking the last remaining flakes off his head, shoulders, and back. The Hun leader surveys the field as swiftly as his pet, notes every detail.

The man cannot recall a time in his life that he has ever felt so angry, such acute rage that his teeth grind together and his body trembles, unable to contain the sheer fury. Not even the sight of the foolish emperor’s cursed wall had drawn out such a feeling.

Hayabusa lets out a familiar shriek, and it almost comforts Shan-Yu to feel the falcon rest on his shoulder, fondly nuzzling his wings against the Hun’s cheek. But no, nothing will ever restore him from this loss: his army, his victory, even his sword have all been taken from him.

“A real bummer, ain’t it?”

Growling fiercely, Shan-Yu whirls on the source of the voice, finding himself face to face with a man dressed all in black, hood up to conceal his features.

“Who are you?” the Hun demands, confident that even without his weapon, it should be child’s play to dispatch this interloper.

The hooded man shrugs. “My name really isn’t all that important,” he replies, his nonchalance only feeding Shan-Yu’s rage.

“If you have any sense of what is good for you, you will leave my presence at once!” Shan-Yu demands, stepping forward. The man in black doesn’t move an inch. “My army may be gone, but I don’t need them to…”

“Your army?” the hooded one interrupts, sounding amused. “Yeah, sure, most of ‘em got totally snuffed by that avalanche. But not all of ‘em.”

The man’s hood twitches ever so slightly, and nearly a dozen Huns emerge, each of them looking worse-for-wear but plenty alive.

Shan-Yu nearly smiles, but quickly quashes the urge. “If you expect gratitude for this, stranger…”

“What? No man, I don’t need anything of the sort. Totally not my scene.” The man actually takes a few steps back, clearing the way for Shan-Yu’s men to come to their master.

“It is good to see that you live, great one,” one of the Huns, whom Shan-Yu recognizes immediately as his second most trusted lieutenant, says with a respectful nod. “Truly fortune has smiled on your great strength and bravery.”

“It has smiled on all of us!” Shan-Yu corrects, teeth bared in a wolfish grin that clearly excites the remaining Huns. “Not even the vile trickery of our enemies, their underhanded tactics, could defeat us, he greatest warriors this world has ever seen! Though we are few, victory still lies within our grasp. We must only reach out and take it!”

The Huns begin to cheer, but in seconds a loud noise rings out above their reverie. Curious and enraged, they turn to find the hooded man holding some sort of odd contraption, its end still glowing faintly, pointed up into the air.

“Maybe you could at that,” he says, slowly sauntering closer, seemingly unconcerned with the looks in the eyes of the gathered Huns. “After all, ragtag little bands topple regimes all the time. But, as plans go, it’s a little dicey. Lotta risk involved, for sure!”

Shan-Yu muscles past his men to loom before the hooded figure, gnashing his teeth at the annoying stranger. “We are Huns, little man. We suck risk from life like a baby sucks milk from its mother.”

“I’m just sayin’, I could be persuaded to provide…”

“We want nothing from you, little faceless man. _Nothing!_

“Whatever you say, big guy,” the cloaked man scoffs, turning away. For a moment Shan-Yu thinks that he is about to leave, but he stops a few feet away, raising a finger in the air. “But if I may be allowed to demonstrate…”

In seconds, at least a dozen Nightwalkers pop into existence, falling upon the remaining Huns like a ravaging horde. Warriors that have withstood hundreds of battles, withstood words and arrows and an _avalanche_ for gods’ sakes, scream in fear and agony as the Heartless take them in their claws.

In seconds, the valley is empty.

Shan-Yu, who had been drawn into the dark spectacle by the terrified cries of his men, whirls on the hooded man, hands eager to tear the tiny nuisance in half. He starts forward, already reaching out…

The man draws his weapon once again, pointed tip directly centered on Shan-Yu’s chest. It’s enough to stop even an enraged Hun in his tracks.

“Hold up there, Shan-Shan,” the man says, speaking as casually as if they had just met in a city café. “You recognize these creatures, don’t you?”

It takes Shan-Yu a moment, but he does. “That symbol. I have seen if before. The creatures wearing it were very different, but they had it emblazoned on them. They attacked the enemy soldiers at the pass. Led me right to them.”

The hooded man nods. “Oh, they’ve been giving your enemies grief a lot longer than that, buddy. In fact, you could even say they’ve been working for you.”

Shan-Yu quirks an eyebrow. “But how? I’ve never…”

“No, no, you wouldn’t have had any clue.” The hooded man moves a few steps left, and the Hun leader naturally countersteps. “But rest assured, these guys are all over your cause. Y’see, these Heartless, they’re attracted to whoever has the strongest will and the darkest intentions. And that, my friend, is you in spades in this neighborhood.”

As if to demonstrate, the Nightwalkers fall flat to the snowy ground, heads bowed in supplication to Shan-Yu.

“They’re ready to fully give their services to you, my man,” the man in black continues, clapping Shan-Yu heartily on the shoulder. “All you’ve gotta do to bind these guys forever to your will is just open up your heart. To Darkness.”

For the first time in a long time, Shan-Yu smiles.

**KH-KH-KH**

The group’s trek down the mountain seems to take twice as long as the one up, bereft as they are of the companionship they had shared with the rest of the troops on that trip. Half-an hour after passing the ruined village, they decide to stop on a ridge for a quick break.

“You can see Imperial City from here!” Mulan points out, gesturing to the large metropolis that can be seen far, far below.

“Is that where Shang’s going?” Sora asks, unconsciously dredging up a freshly sore subject. The mood of the entire group visibly goes down several notches. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, scenic Imperial City,” Mushu says from Mulan's shoulder, peering down at the Chinese capital. “It’s got everything you could want! Fine restaurants, the Imperial Palace, Shan-Yu and an army of those Heartless guys heading towards it at top speed…”

“What did you say?” Mulan snaps at the dragon. Seeming to only just now realize it himself, Mushu points a claw at a spot several miles down. The group all lean out and strain their eyesight, but soon enough each of them spot the same terrifying sight.

Shan-Yu rides atop the flank of an Assault Rider, several more of the centaurian Heartless following along at a steady clip. Above, perhaps a dozen Rapid Thrusters zip along through the air as well.

“He’s _alive_?” Azlyn blurts out incredulously. “I mean c’mon, we dropped a freakin’ _avalanche_ on this bozo! This makes no sense!”

Sora shakes his head. “No, it makes perfect sense. Remember those Heartless that attacked us before the summit battle, and that group that charged camp? Shan-Yu must have been working with the Heartless the whole time. They must have saved him!”

“But if he was controlling the Heartless the whole time, why did he still have all those Huns to charge at us with?” Telary asks with a skeptical eyebrow raised. “Wouldn’t the Heartless have eaten them all by then?”

“Look,” Mulan interrupts, “regardless of whether or not Shan-Yu had control of the Heartless before or not, he does now, and he’s on his way towards Shang!”

“And the emperor,” Mushu adds in. “Or is your boyfriend more important than the leader of our nation?”

“Not my boyfriend!” Mulan protests with a blush on her cheeks.

“And unless we catch up with Shan-Yu in time, he’s never gonna be!” Azlyn points out. “We’ve gotta catch him and the Heartless!”

“How?” Telary asks. “He’s miles ahead of us, and we don’t even have a horse! So unless these clothes are magical enough to spontaneously sprout _skis_ …!”

“That’s it!” Azlyn says, triumphantly punching the air. She draws the shield off her back, the three circle silhouette of Disney Castle’s official Royal Guard seal emblazoned upon it.

“Uh, I hate to break it to you Az,” Telary says, “but I was totally kidding about…”

“We didn’t have our weapons when we woke up in those pods, right?” the knight asks her partner urgently.

“Uh, no…”

“Exactly! We got these back when those fairies made us these clothes, right?”

“Yeah, but how…?”

“And so, if these clothes are magical…” She drops her shield facefirst on the snowy ground. “Why shouldn’t the weapons be too?” Looking down, Azlyn taps her toe against the shield. In an instant, there’s an explosion of sparks upon it. When they fade, the group is shocked to discover that Azlyn’s shield has increased size threefold!

“Okay, so it’s a big shield,” Sora says skeptically. “How are we supposed to…?”

“It’s a sled!” Mulan chimes in happily. “It’s a sled we can use to move down the mountain on! Azlyn, that’s…”

“Genius?” the knight finishes with no small amount of modesty. “Yeah, what can I say, I am the brains of this operation.”

“Uh, speaking of brains,” Mushu chimes in, “how exactly do you suggest we manage to not fall off this thing and get ‘em all over this nice mountain?”

Azlyn shrugs. “Hold on tight, lizard boy. Hold on tight.”

“This is actually pretty awesome!” Sora says as he takes a seat at the front of the large shield/sled. He doesn’t retain the first spot for long before Azlyn forces him back into second position. Mulan hops on next, Mushu hiding in her pocket.

All that remains is Telary, who still looks skeptically at the whole arrangement.

“C’mon Tel!” Azlyn encourages her counterpart. “Get aboard!”

“Yeah, we’ll need you around to cast Cure in case anybody falls out or, like, screams out a lung!” Sora adds, unhelpfully.

After another indecisive moment, the wizard sighs and steps in behind Mulan. “Y’know, every time I think I’ve reached my terror threshold…”

“Enough with your whining!” Azlyn calls back. “Everybody scoot!”

There’s only a few inches between the shield and the ridge’s edge, leading down a drop of about three feet before hitting a long clear mountainside path. It takes a moment and a lot of swallowed pride before the group manages to make enough movements to shimmy their makeshift conveyance over the edge, and down the mountain.

The rush is incredible, the feeling of air moving past their bodies at an incredibly fast pace as close to sheer drunkenness as any of the quartet has ever come. As they zip along down, time seems to bend, shake, and lose all meaning, nothing but streams of white snow flying out in all directions.

It takes about ten minutes to traverse the snow-covered portions of the mountain, though of course none of the riders know this in any conscious way. They continue on for only a few minutes more before Telary uses his magic to halt their progress.

“Wow,” Azlyn says, after a solid minute of nothing but sitting around dumbly inside their sled.

“Yeah,” Sora agrees.

“Wow,” Mulan repeats. Then the reality of the situation hits, and the young woman spurs the group on to action.

Reaching the Imperial City takes another half-hour, and by the time the group enters the gates it seems that a celebration is in full swing. People crowd the streets, leaving only a single free thoroughfare in the middle of it all. No matter where anyone looks there is always something to see, whether it be dancers or jugglers or acrobats, and even the night sky is filled with fireworks exploding in flashes of dazzling color overhead.

“This place is nuts!” Azlyn declares. “It’s like Christmas in Mouseburg combined with the Dream Festival!”

“How,” Telary laments, “are we supposed to find Shang in all of this…”

“Oh, hey! It’s Shang!” Sora blurts, pointing down the street.

“Make way, make way!” a shirtless man bellows in a deep voice. “The conquering heroes have arrived!”

Behind the announcer is Shang, riding on the back of a magnificent white horse and casting his gaze about the parade route, obviously overwhelmed by the noise and attention of the crowd. Behind him march the rank-and-file soldiers. Chien Po and Ling can be seen easily enough, and it’s safe to assume that Yao is right alongside them. Behind the company is a brightly colored paper dragon, dancing and flailing wildly about.

“Shang!” Mulan cries out, bursting through the citizens crowded by the side of the parade route with Sora in tow. Startled, the captain looks down to her. For a moment his face is a rictus of confusion, but it hardens within the span of a second upon identifying his accoster.

“What are you…?”

“Shan-Yu is alive!” the girl bursts out desperately. “He’s coming here!”

“He’s got a Heartless army!” Sora adds. “They could show up at any minute, and with all these people around…”

“Why should I trust either of you?” Shang says coldly, narrowing his eyes at the pair. “I trusted Roxas and Ping, but then I didn’t know they were lying. It’s bad enough to be made a fool of once, but twice by the same people? No, that I couldn’t take.” With a final sneer, Shang returns his gaze frontward.

Sora watches as the company marches on, eyes firmly fixed on Shang. Of course he’s angered that the captain dismissed him and Mulan without even hearing them out, but some part of Sora understands the feeling. After all, he’d been lied to before by people he thought trustworthy. And sure he’d forgiven Azlyn and Telary for their deception almost miraculously quickly, but there’s no denying it had hurt inside for quite some time.

“Please, just keep an eye out!” Mulan implores Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, who at least look like they’re seriously listening to the young woman. “Shan-Yu is here, I know it!”

With every soldier they know by name having passed by, Mulan and Sora move back into the crowd and find Azlyn and Telary.

“What now?” Azlyn asks. The street has becoming marginally less cacophonous by now, with most of the parade watchers now flooding the Imperial Square to see the heroes of the day given their due rewards.

Mulan bites her lip, casting her gaze about nervously. “I’m not sure,” she says after a moment, sounding thoroughly defeated. “Maybe we should just keep getting the warning out, and maybe somebody will…”

“Oh, please!” Mushu chimes in, his head sticking out of Mulan's robe. “Who’s gonna listen to any of y’all? You and Azlyn are girls, Sora looks twelve…”

“Hey!” the Keybearer protests. “I’m seventeen…”

“…And Telary’s unnatural hair color is probably makin’ people think he’s some kinda soulless fire demon!” The Disney Castle wizard looks around a bit nervously at that, only to find that some people are indeed staring. “It’s hopeless!”

For a moment Mulan seems to agree, but the young woman manages to rally her resolve. “No,” she says defiantly. “I don’t care what I have to do, I _will_ make someone listen to us! C’mon!”

The quartet move with the crowd into the square, a massive courtyard that seems to be impossibly full of people packed in closely together. The sight of them all brings a sudden hitch to Sora’s breath as he thinks of just how much sustenance a pack of Heartless could gain from such a meal.

Above it all, the Imperial Palace rises high into the sky, an elaborate construction that seems almost a city in and of itself. The square main building, constructed of deep red wood, sits at the top of a staircase that must contain over a hundred steps, long stone landings between flights. One roof rings the lower level of thick columns, and another rectangular level sits atop that, its roof a large flat expanse. To either side are a pair of tall towers, fireworks flying off the tops of them at incredible speeds before bursting into showers of multicolored light.

Ignoring the indignant cries of the people they push aside, the quartet makes for the palace steps with all speed. Shang and company are already halfway up, heading towards a long stretch of stone that connects the steps to the palace’s front door.

Shang’s mount clears the last step and he pulls it to a stop, sliding out of his saddle and making his way on foot to where the emperor waits, dressed in his formal yellow robe. He’s an old, thin man with a stark white mustache and long beard, and his arms are folded across his chest, either hand tucked inside the sleeve of the opposite arm. On his head he wears his rectangular fabric crown.

Chi-Fu stands beside him, sour about this nothing special daddy’s boy captain receiving such a momentous honor. Not that the emperor’s advisor allows any of that to show, of course.

As he approaches, head slightly bowed in deference, Shang can’t help but reflect on Ping and Roxas… No, no _Mulan_ and _Sora_ ’s warning. They’d accosted him like a pair of madmen, to be sure, but something about their fear had seemed genuine. Perhaps he should have listened, even just for a moment…

Shang takes a deep breath and lets it out. What is done is done, and there’s no going back.

“Ahem!” Chi-Fu says rudely, knocking Shang out of his pondering. Looking up, the captain realizes that he’s stepped just a bit closer to the emperor than is considered appropriate. With a sheepish smile, he takes a step back.

“Your Majesty,” Shang says in his most humble and supplicant voice. He reaches behind his back and pulls forth the sword of Shan-Yu, recovered from the mountain field where the avalanche had carried the Hun army. “I present to you the sword of Shan-Yu.”

The emperor looks down at the sword, then back up at Shang. There’s a kindness in his eyes, subtle acknowledgement of Shang’s loss.

“I realize that this moment must mean a great deal to you, captain,” the old man says after a moment, his hands already reaching out to grab the offered weapon. “I know that your father would have…”

Before the emperor can complete his thought, there’s a loud, familiar screech, and suddenly the dread falcon Hayabusa swoops down upon the pair atop the palace steps and snatches up Shan-Yu’s sword in its talons, holding it by the blade as the bird rises into the sky.

Everyone in the square, Mulan, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary included, gasp at the sudden attack, their eyes following Hayabusa’s ascent.

The falcon flies higher and higher, seemingly headed for a group of statues representing the zodiac animals. At the height of his arc, Hayabusa drops the sword, where it falls several feet to land neatly in Shan-Yu’s waiting hand.

A great, terrified scream arises from the viewing public. Even if none of them has even seen a drawing of Shan-Yu before, somehow each and every citizen instantly knows who this man is, and how much trouble they are all now in.

The sight of China’s greatest enemy, seemingly reborn, spurs Shang quickly to action, drawing the sword at his side with a swift, practiced motion. Behind him, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po do the same.

No sooner have the swords cleared their scabbards than the paper dragon behind the company explodes, revealing a long line of Nightwalkers. The Heartless surge forward, falling on the rearguard of the troops.

More screams arise from the courtyard, but a single yell cuts above them all.

Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Mulan smash into the Heartless ranks, weapons flashing and magic flying, cutting a swathe through the enemy forces.

An Assault Rider gallops a full-tilt after Shang, and though the captain raise his sword in time to block its spear thrust, the force behind the creature’s blow is enough to send him to the ground. Above him, the Heartless rears back its long spear…

It doesn’t get the chance to lower the lance, however, as a split second after its strike is prepared, Mulan swoops in and attacks its back, slashing clean through the humanlike torso resting on the equine body. The Heartless fades without a sound.

The young woman offers down a hand to her former commanding officer, and he gratefully accepts it, rising to his feet with her assistance.

“Thank you, Mulan,” the captain says, looking her in the eye sincerely. “I’m sorry about before, I…”

“Hey, lovebirds!” Azlyn’s harsh voice rings out from behind the pair where she’s single-handedly holding back a force of nearly a dozen Nightwalkers. “Maybe you wanna keep an eye on the emperor?”

The pair snap to attention immediately, turning just in time to see that Shan-Yu has arrived on the palace steps. The Hun leader holds his sword to the emperor’s neck. With a broad grin, he leads the old man into the palace itself. Mulan and Shang race after him.

Back on the steps, Sora and Telary face off with a pair of Assault Riders, both of the centaurian Heartless using their quick speed and superior reach to keep them off balance. Telary shoots off a fireball, but the Heartless he’s aiming for is too quick to get hit.

One of the Assault Riders, apparently tired of the cat-and-mouse game, charges directly for Sora, spear out and ready to skewer the Keybearer. It doesn’t get the chance to move more than a few steps, however, when suddenly Chien Po comes charging in, barreling his belly into the beast and knocking it onto its side.

Sora and Telary’s gazes linger on the sight, but the big man in blue armor only smiles politely and gives a little nod, driving his blade into the fallen creature.

Hoofbeats pound the pavement off to the left, and Sora turns to look at a second charging Assault Rider. He raises his Keyblade, but before the Heartless can even come close, a Chinese army sword bursts out of its chest. The Heartless spasms quickly before dying. As it disincorporates, Yao falls to the ground with an indignant grunt.

“Yao?’ Telary says incredulously. “How did you…?”

The little man shrugs. “I grew up on a farm,” he informs the wizard. “Mountin’ a horse ain’t exactly difficult.”

“Ah, I see.”

The loud, agonized scream of Chi-Fu cuts through even the noise of the battle, and Azlyn follows the sound to its source, knocking aside a pair of swooping Rapid Thrusters to find the advisor curled up in a ball on the ground, screaming his head off despite the fact that there’s not a Heartless within thirty feet of him.

“Oh, would you relax?” Azlyn snaps, startling another tiny, high-pitched noise out of the man. “The Heartless won’t go near you. They like big meals.”

“Azlyn, c’mon!” Sora calls out to the knight as he, Telary, Ling, Yao, and Chien Po race past her. “Mulan and Shang need our help near the entrance!”

The pair are indeed in dire need, beset on all sides by Nightwalkers and Rapid Thrusters. Though the pair work together well, and Mushu occasionally lets out a fireball when he can, it’s clear they’re having trouble.

Trouble is no match however, for the combined might of all of their friends, smashing into the Heartless ranks almost as one.

Sora knocks aside a Nightwalker and Ling cuts it through, Telary calls down lightning bolts on a swarm of Rapid Thrusters, and Yao and Azlyn fend off three Nightwalkers with fists alone.

The Heartless horde and fog of battle disappear quickly, leaving the group standing as one before the still opened palace doors. Somewhere inside, the emperor awaits rescue.

“C’mon, we can take Shan-Yu!” Yao says boisterously, and he and Azlyn march their way toward the entrance.

“I don’t know,” Sora admits, the unusual display of low morale surprising everyone. “If Shan-Yu is powerful enough to control all of these Heartless, then he must be using a lot of Darkness. He’s probably ten times as powerful now as he was before.”

“And he was a holy terror then,” Telary adds nervously.

“Well, we’ve got to do something quick, before he kills the emperor,” Shang points out, anxiously glancing inside the palace.

Mulan furrows her brow, thinking hard through the problem. “Sora,” she says to the Keybearer, “are you sure that there’s no way to fight Shan-Yu directly?”

Sora thinks it over for a second, then shakes his head. “There’s no telling what he could do with his new powers,” the boy concludes. “A straight up fight could really blow up in our faces.”

Suddenly, Mulan's eyes go wide, the metaphorical light bulb illuminating inside her head. “Okay everyone,” she says, grinning ever so slightly. “I think I have a plan. It might be risky, but I think we’ve got a chance…”

**KH-KH-KH**

With a pair of Assault Riders guarding the door, Shan-Yu feels confident that here, a balcony high above the square below, is a perfect place to achieve his ultimate victory.

“So,” he gloats to the emperor, “this is how your great and noble reign ends, hm? Captured and defeated by a man you had dismissed as a witless savage.”

“I am not so sure that any of your actions today have disabused me of that notion,” the emperor replies coolly, not even sparing a second to glance at his captor.

Infuriated by the old fool’s calm demeanor, Shan-Yu rounds on the emperor and places his sword’s jagged blade just a hair’s breadth from the man’s neck.

“When your Great Wall reached completion, I’m sure you thought that its immense splendor would force the world, force _my people_ , to their knees before its might.” The Hun allows himself a small, sardonic smile. “But now, it is _you_ who will bow to _me_.”

“No matter how loudly the wind howls,” the emperor replies defiantly, “the mountain can never bow to it.”

More riddles and trivialities! Somewhere behind him there arises a loud noise, but Shan-Yu is too enraged to take even the slightest notice. “Very well!” Shan-Yu bellows, taking a step back and raising his jagged sword. “Since you will not kneel before peacefully, you will fall to your knees in _pieces_!”

The Hun pulls back his sword and swings it at the old man’s neck, but before the blow can cannot, another sword of imperial steel swings forward, blocking Shan-Yu’s blade.

Shang falls to the floor, unable to get his feet back underneath himself after leaping forward to save the emperor. Shan-Yu roars and swings once more, but before the blade can connect, Azlyn rushes in and blocks the blow with her shield.

Shan-Yu manages to catch a brief glimpse of two people finishing off his Heartless guards, before Shang rises and swings once again at the Hun. It’s a simple effort to block the blow, but Azlyn is already attacking his other side, slamming directly into Shan-Yu’s torso with the flat of her shield. The force is great enough to loosen the Hun’s grip on his sword, and it clatters to the ground behind him.

Shang walks toward the fallen man carefully, sword held at arm’s length and pointing directly at his heart, daring the Hun to make an aggressive move.

With Shan-Yu pinned and the Heartless defeated, Mulan and Chien Po rush to the balcony.

“Chien Po, get the emperor out of here!” the young woman orders her rotund companion.

Chien Po nods, approaching the emperor. “I am most sorry, Your Excellency,” the big man says before grabbing the ruler of his country by the waist and leading him to the balcony’s railing. A long rope, paper lanterns hung all along it, runs from the roof above the balcony to the street below. Chien Po reaches out, grabs the nearest lantern, and gives it a tug. Assured that it will hold his and the emperor’s weight, the large man and the old man leap over the side.

Shan-Yu is, predictably, not very happy about his prize escaping down the side of the building. He turns on Shang with a glare hard enough to weaken the captain’s resolve for a brief moment.

The Hun bellows and rises, and a wave of violet and black Darkness rises with him, sweeping out in a wide circle that catches both Azlyn and Shang, sending them hurtling to the ground.

Shan-Yu rises, grabs his sword from where he’d dropped it, and plants his foot heavily on Shang’s chest.

“You!” the Hun snarls for all he’s worth, a violet aura surrounding him as his anger flares and the Darkness in his heart surges outward, too powerful to be contained. “First at the pass, and now here, you have taken my victory! But I…”

Shan-Yu doesn’t get a chance to finish his threat before he feels a sharp impact against the back of his head. A lady’s shoe!

“No!” Mulan shouts as the Hun turns to look at her with a savage snarl. “Shang didn’t defeat you at the Tung-Shao Pass, Shan-Yu.” The young woman sweeps her hair back into a rough bun with her hands, just as she had worn it in her Ping disguise.

The revelation shocks Shan-Yu. “The soldier,” he says quietly, taking his foot off of the still injured Shang. “The soldier from the mountains!” The Hun takes a slow, menacing step towards her, and Mulan moves back in response, closer to the balcony’s exit.

Before Shan-Yu can take another step, Azlyn slams into him full force. It doesn’t do much, but the Hun slides back at least five feet, momentarily losing his balance.

“Run!” Azlyn cries, joining Mulan and full-on sprinting down the steps. Behind them, Shan-Yu recovers quickly, charging forward with another guttural snarl. Thinking quickly, Azlyn slams the doors leading from balcony to interior shut, while Mulan pushes the crude lock into place.

“Do you think that’ll buy us any time?” Mulan asks.

Not a second later, the balcony doors explode inward, wisps of dark energy sparking through into the hallway. Apparently the doors will not be buying them any time.

The girls take off once again down the corridor, both hoping that the elements of Mulan’s full plan have come together by now.

“I gotta say, Mulan,” Azlyn remarks almost conversationally as the pair hoof it through the palace corridor, “and I realize that this is ironic, considering everything, but you have got quite the pair my friend.”

Mulan furrows her eyebrows at the knight. “A pair of what?”

A blast of pure Darkness the size of Mulan's head whizzes through the gap between the girls, a potent reminder of just exactly what kind of situation they’re in at the moment.

“If we survive this,” Azlyn says, sincerely, “I promise I’ll tell you. Here?”

Mulan looks around the nondescript corridor, red walls all around. Four columns line up down the hall, the same cherry red as the rest of the palace.

“Good as anywhere,” Mulan confirms. With a loud yell, she slashes at a pillar, making a rather shallow cut. She grimaces. “This may not…”

“AAAAAARRGH!” Shan-Yu cries, running at the girls with his sword held high, the dark aura extending several feet beyond his body now.

Squealing, Mulan and Azlyn leap upwards as high as they can reach, grabbing on near the top of the pillar and holding on for dear life. Shan-Yu swings, and his blade cuts through the wood like it’s mere butter, sending the entire column tipping towards the wall.

The top few feet of the column plow through the wooden wall, opening a wide hole out into the night air. It lands hard, sticking out horizontally over the still-full plaza below. Mulan and Azlyn can hear the gasps of the crowd below as they rise, leaping up to grab the edge of the palace roof, only a few feet above. With grunts of exertion, they pull themselves up. For a moment, however, Mulan slips, and her family sword leaves her fingers, hurtling towards the ground.

Far below, Chi-Fu has just managed to compose himself when suddenly a sword comes falling out of the sky. The emperor’s advisor screams and throws himself to the side, the sword plunging harmlessly into the palace pavement.

Shan-Yu evidently decides not to follow the girls’ route upwards, and as a result they have a few moments to breathe. Mulan immediately goes into calculation mode, checking the rooftop to make sure her plan can succeed.

“Don’t worry, Mulan!” Azlyn reassures her temporary partner in crime. “I’m sure everything is…”

A column of pure Darkness as thick as the wooden ones below bursts through the ceiling only inches in front of Azlyn, sending the knight hurtling away. She lands hard on her back, grunting angrily at the pain.

Shan-Yu follows his Darkness out of the hole and onto the roof. Seeing Mulan standing before him, defenseless, gives the Hun immense pleasure. He raises his sword menacingly.

“Well, it seems that I’ve caught you at an inopportune time, my young friend,” the Hun chuckles sardonically. Mulan takes a wary step back, her eyes momentarily focusing above Shan-Yu’s shoulder. “What’s the problem, little girl? No rockets this time?”

Mulan smirks, the same look she’d given Shan-Yu after firing her avalanche-starting missile in the pass. “Funny you should mention that.”

Realizing that the girl is looking over his shoulder, Shan-Yu darts his gaze back behind himself. What he sees there stuns him speechless.

A huge firework, easily twice the size of the one that had been the instrument of his defeat at Tung-Shao, rests on the rooftop. Mushu and Telary stand on one side, Sora on the other. All of them look uniformly smug.

“Magnet!” Telary cries out, reaching out to grab Shan-Yu’s sword by its metal blade. The weapon floats backwards through the air and into the hands of Azlyn.

While the Hun is distracted, Mulan lashes out with a kick that knocks him to one knee. With a grunt, Azlyn raises his jagged sword above her head and plunges it down; not into the Hun, but rather the edge of his scrappy cloak. The blade stabs through the fabric and into the roof underneath, holding fast.

“Telary,” Mushu says, almost uncannily nonchalant for the situation they’re all in, “would you like to do the honors?”

“Oh, no, Mushu,” the wizard declines politely. “Your world, your show!”

Mushu grins and unleashes his largest burst of fire ever, the flames catching the firework’s fuse. It burns quick, and with a loud _kaboom_ the projectile is released.

Azlyn and Mulan duck out of the way, but Shan-Yu cannot move, stuck firmly into the roof by the sword in his cloak. He tugs with all his might, calls upon the power of Darkness, but it is too late, and the rocket hits him full force in the chest, sending the Hun hurtling backwards through the air…

And into the adjacent tower full of yet more highly flammable explosives.

The sounds of Shan-Yu’s screams and the whistling rocket provide an aptly hectic soundtrack as Mulan and Azlyn sprint for the roof’s edge.

The pair reach the rest of their cohorts just as Shan-Yu’s rocket slams into the tower, unleashing a barrage of fireworks into the night sky. Resisting the urge to look over their shoulders at the sight of Shan-Yu’s ultimate defeat, the quartet leap off the roof, just as a few colorful rockets hit it and set off at least a dozen cacophonous explosions.

“Feather Fall!” Telary cries out as they hang over the plaza far, far below. White light momentarily surrounds every member of the group, and for a few long moments they seem to glide through the air. It strongly reminds Sora of his adventure with Peter Pan in Neverland.

Mulan, not clued in on the mystical nature of their newly slowed descent, grabs onto yet another paper lantern hanging off a long line, zipping down towards the ground at a speed the rest of the group can’t match. Once she reaches the palace steps she lets go, falling through the air to land daintily on her feet.

Shang, standing with Yao, Ling, and Chien Po on a landing a few flights down from the palace itself, only takes a moment to wonder about Mulan's slowed descent before surging forward to congratulate her.

The trio land near the bottom of the steps, shocking the surrounding Chinese citizens with their smooth landing from several hundred feet up.

“I love it when a plan comes together,” Azlyn says, to the agreeable nods of her compatriots. After a moment of enjoyment, however, her forehead scrunches in thought. “Hey, whatever happened to Shan-Yu’s bird?”

As if in answer, the smoking carcass off the dread falcon Hayabusa lands at Telary’s feet, startling the wizard into stumbling back and letting out a high-pitched shriek, ironically not unlike the one Hayabusa had possessed while still among the living.

Sora cocks his head, regarding the admittedly not-bad-smelling carcass. “Would it be bad of me to ask if we can have chicken for dinner tonight?”

“Where is she?” Chi-Fu’s cries out into the night air, emerging from the smoke with a look that seems as if it could start a few fires itself. Hearing this, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary race up the steps towards Mulan and company.

Shang and the three named soldiers form a protective block in front of Mulan, facing down the angered Chi-Fu.

“How _dare_ you protect that woman!” the emperor’s advisor yells. His blue hat of office is practically incinerated. “Look at what she’s done!”

The palace is mostly in ruins, still smoking or blazing from at least three dozen spots all around. The smoke surrounding the front steps hasn’t even cleared yet.

“You will treat this woman with respect!” Shang demands, grabbing the front of the little man’s robe in a fist. “She is a hero!”

“She’s a menace!” Chi-Fu retorts. “And besides all that, she’s a _woman_!”

“Chi-Fu! Captain!”

The voice of the emperor startles both men, and Shang releases his hold on the advisor, taking a step back. Behind him, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary join their friends in shielding Mulan.

The emperor stops before the group, giving them all a regal look. At the unspoken command, everyone moves back, leaving Mulan standing revealed before the emperor. Taking a deep breath, she steps forward and offers the old man a simple bow.

“I have heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan,” the emperor starts off with, peering intensely at the supplicant young woman. Behind him, Chi-Fu looks impossibly smug. “I know all about your deeds: You stole your father’s armor, and ran away from home. You impersonated a soldier of my army, and brought others into this deception as well. Some have even called this a conspiracy.”

“Gee, I wonder who,” Azlyn quietly snarls to Telary.

“You dishonored the Chinese Army, appropriated an illegal firework, and you have destroyed my very palace!”

“Alright, we get it already,” Sora complains, frowning at the situation.

“All these things you have done, and I suspect many more. You’re a young woman, Fa Mulan, and in the end… You have saved us all.”

Those last few words send a shockwave through to Mulan's core, startling her out of her bow. She looks at the emperor as confused as she has ever been.

The confusion becomes even worse within a moment, as the emperor of all China schools his face into a neutral expression and bows.

Seeing his master lower himself before the young woman, Chi-Fu lets out a squeal and immediately flings himself fully to the ground, landing with a _thunk_ on the pavement. Turning, Mulan sees Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po lower themselves as well.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary follow the soldiers, slowly supplicating themselves before their friend.

“Don’t know why _I_ have to bow,” Azlyn mutters lowly to Telary. “I had a very big part of in plan!”

“Shh,” Telary quietly chides his counterpart. “Everybody’s doing it.”

Indeed they are, the entire courtyard full of people bowing deeply, hands and knees on the ground. Mulan watches it all with a look of awe in her eyes. It feels like a dream, far too grand to possibly be real.

“My little baby,” Mushu says to Sora through his proud tears. “All grown up and saving China!”

After a moment Mulan turns back to see the emperor standing straight before her once again, Chi-Fu beside him.

“Chi-Fu!” the ruler of all China barks, snapping his majordomo to attention. “See to it that this woman is placed in the highest position in my retinue immediately!”

“B-but Your Excellency,” Chi-Fu stutters, nearly dropping his noteboard and pen, “ _mine_ is the highest position in your retinue!”

“Oh, I see.” The emperor takes a brief moment to think, then shrugs. “Well, then I suppose we’ll have to find something else for you to do. I _do_ need a new poison tester…”

Chi-Fu doesn’t even hear the end of the emperor’s thought before fainting dead away.

Mulan holds back a smile at the sight, and in the background Azlyn lets out a disruptively loud belly laugh.

“With all due respect, Your Highness,” Mulan says, nodding slightly in deference, “I really would just like to return home.”

The emperor smiles. “If that is your wish, Fa Mulan, then that is what shall be! Captain!”

Shang steps up beside the emperor. In his hands he holds the sword of Shan-Yu, which had been hurled from the palace roof by the earlier fireworks display. Reaching Mulan, he holds it out to her.

“Take this then,” the emperor says. “The sword of Shan-Yu. Present it to your family, so that they will know what it is you have done for me.”

Mulan takes the sword and examines it momentarily, then launches herself at the emperor, wrapping her arms around him in an affectionate hug.

Perhaps _too_ affectionate.

“Is she allowed to do that?” Yao asks the general population. They all shrug.

The sword of Shan-Yu suddenly sparks with white light, rising in the air wrapped in a halo.

Sora steps forward, Keyblade in hand. Once again he finds himself transported to the strange place of swirling clouds that is the heart of a world. The floating sword shoots a beam that coalesces into a keyhole of light in the sky, and Sora raises the Keyblade to unlock it. The keyhole emits another white light, and when it fades, he is returned to the palace steps.

After a moment, Mulan turns to her friends. Shaking off the weirdness they just experienced, Yao, Ling, and Chien Po rush forward and envelope her in a group hug.

When the soldier trio lets her go, backing away politely, it just leaves Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Mushu.

“I want to thank the three of you for everything you did to help me,” Mulan says, smiling at the trio. “If it weren’t for you, I’m not sure I would’ve have made it.”

“You _three_!” Mushu blurts indignantly. “Who did all the rocket lighting, hm?”

Mulan rolls her eyes. “I obviously owe you a thank you, Mushu,” the young woman says to her family guardian. “But I get the feeling these three are going to be leaving soon.”

Sora nods. “Yeah, we should get going,” the Keybearer admits. “But first…”

Sora approaches the emperor and Shang. The boy respectfully bows before addressing the emperor.

“I hate to trouble you, Your Excellency,” Sora says, “but I’m looking for my friend Riku. He’s about _this_ tall, and he has long silver hair. Have you seen him?”

The emperor frowns. “I’m afraid I have not, young man. But I will make sure that the entire kingdom keeps an eye out for him.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Sora,” Shang says, stepping out from behind the emperor, “Azlyn, Telary.”

“Yes sir?” Telary asks.

“I want to thank you all,” he says with a respectful half-bow. “It was an honor to have soldiers like you serving me.”

“You’re very welcome captain,” Sora replies. “And thank you for being our commanding officer.”

“You’re a really great captain,” Telary chimes in.

“I usually hate authority figures,” Azlyn adds with a shrug, “but I guess you’re alright.”

“Mulan,” Shang says, sounding nervous as he steps forward. For her part, the young woman turns to the captain with a shy smile of her own. “I think… um, you are very… You were really…”

There’s a long awkward pause, everyone mostly just standing around looking at each other.

Shang sighs, lays a hand on Mulan's shoulder. The young woman is smiling widely up at him now.

“You fight good,” is what Shang finally comes up with. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary nearly drop to the ground in exasperation. Even the emperor rolls his royal eyes.

“Oh, um, thanks,” Mulan sort-of replies, looking away, then back at Shang. “Well, you’re pretty good at it yourself.”

“If there was ever a time to make our exit…” Telary observes with a sigh.

“Goodbye Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Mulan says. Mushu’s head peeks from behind hers.

“You shall be missed,” the emperor adds.

“Well, we can always come back and visit,” Sora says. “Would that be okay?”

“We look forward to your return,” Shang says graciously.

“Everyone play nice now,” Azlyn says, with a pointed look between Shang and Mulan. The pair turn away and blush.

As the trio walk away to find a secluded place to teleport offworld, Telary turns to Azlyn with a frown.

“Now why did you have to go and make Mulan and Shang uncomfortable like that?” the wizard admonishes his friend.

She shrugs. “Actually, I was mostly referring to Mushu.”


	8. Enchanté

“Hm,” Telary says after a few minutes of flying through Gummi space. Curious, Sora looks over and finds the wizard staring at something on the shipboard computer’s navigation screen. “That’s weird…”

“What’s weird?” Azlyn inquires, leaning over to check the screen herself. She just stares at it blankly, not recognizing anything particularly “hm” worthy. An unidentified world signature rests about an hour away, but other than that the screen is normal.

“Something happened to Twilight Town,” Telary answers after doing a quick investigation that involves a lot of rapid typing neither of his companions understand. “Or at least, something happened to its signature.”

“Explain, please,” Azlyn requests politely. “Some of us don’t have our ‘geek’ dictionaries handy.”

Telary rolls his eyes at the insult, but nonetheless complies with the girl’s request. “Basically, before we left I made sure to record its navigational coordinates, just in case we had to jump back there for something.”

“We’ll probably visit Hayner and Olette and Pence eventually, right?” Sora chimes in, wondering where the sudden urge to reconnect with such relative strangers came from.

“Uh, I guess,” Telary answers absently. “But, as I was saying, that might be considerably harder now, because according the charts, Twilight Town isn’t there anymore.”

“What do you mean, ‘not there’?” Sora asks, leaving his seat and staring down at the navigation screen with his companions. On it he sees the world this Gummi space path is taking them to, the Land of Dragons which they had just left behind, and Hollow Bastion. Logically he knows there should be another path from Hollow Bastion to Twilight Town, but there isn’t one on the screen. For all intents and purposes, Twilight Town is gone completely.

“Was it the Heartless?” Azlyn asks, sounding worried. “Are they going after the worlds again?”

Telary frowns at the thought, but after a few seconds shakes his head. “No, I don’t think that’s it. There’d probably still be some Darkness in the area it used to be in if that was the case.”

“So, it’s not gone as in destroyed,” Sora muses, scratching at his chin thoughtfully, “but it is gone so that we don’t know where it is and can’t go back there, right?”

It takes Telary a moment to puzzle through the Keybearer’s logic, but after doing so he gives a nod.

Sora returns to his seat and lays back, trying to satisfy himself with the fact that Twilight Town is most likely still exactly where it should be, they just don’t know where that is at the moment. He finds it exceedingly difficult, and spends the rest of the interspace journey brooding, something in his heart aching dully.

**KH-KH-KH**

The teleporter deposits the trio in a large courtyard, a castle easily as tall and imposing as Hollow Bastion looming above them. The structure looks even more intimidating in the rain that pours down from the dark nighttime sky, illuminated only occasionally by jagged flashes of lightning.

“Well, this is great!” Azlyn yells over the howling wind, just before a massive clap of thunder drowns out all other noise.

“Let’s go inside!” Sora suggests, already making his way up the stairs to the castle’s door. Raising the Keyblade, he calls out a pulse of unlocking energy to guarantee the door will open. With a grunt of effort, he grabs the wooden doorway and heaves it open.

The trio file into the castle’s massive foyer, tall columns spaced every few feet apart. Off to the left are two sets of double doors, and two more doors are identically placed to the right. A short staircase leads to a landing where another set of large doors are placed, and two staircases branch off from there to either wing, west and east.

The sound of the storm is severely diminished inside, but another dull thunder clap can be heard.

“Uh, guys,” Telary says, catching the wandering eyes of his friends, “not to sound like an alarmist or anything, but does anybody else get kind of a ‘horror story’ vibe from all this.”

“Horror story?” Sora asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, y’know, dark stormy night, scary castle, group of teens seeking shelter,” the wizard clarifies. “Usually ends with them all dead, eaten or any manner of unpleasant things.” He shrugs. “Horror story.”

“Telary!” Azlyn admonishes her scaredy-cat counterpart with an exaggerated eye roll. “We do battle with creatures born of Darkness and Nothingness on the daily, have actually faced down a witch, even met the king of Halloween himself, and you’re all of a sudden scared of campfire stories? C’mon.”

“Yeah, Telary, you should relax,” Sora tells the wizard, more sympathetically than Azlyn. “I agree that this place is kind of… Okay, actually it’s _majorly_ spooky, but c’mon. After everything we’ve been through, what’s left to be afraid of?”

As if queued up by some cosmic conductor, it’s at that very moment that a loud, savage roar rips all throughout the castle, catching in the wide open space of the foyer and echoing all around. Not even the sound of thunder outside can be heard over the expression of sheer animalistic fury.

Telary shrieks and leaps into the nearest pair of arms, which just happen to belong to Sora. Luckily for the wizard, the Keybearer has the presence of mind to hold tight to his frightened companion.

“Aha!” Telary cries out in triumph. Sora winces as the shout hits his face. “What did I say, huh? Horror!”

“If I admit you had a point,” Sora grunts, legs shaking underneath the wizard’s weight, “can I put you down?”

Telary hastily apologizes and extricates himself from Sora’s arms.

“So there’s something scary in this big creepy castle,” Azlyn scoffs, shrugging. “That doesn’t mean that what I said before isn’t true. Whatever it was making that big noise, I’m sure we can take it.”

Another roar, just as massive as the first, rumbles through the foyer. Though still startled, none of the trio react as grandly as they had before.

Sora cocks his head curiously, scratching at his chin as he thinks. There’s something odd about those roars, some tiny familiarity that nags him uncomfortably.

“It could be the Organization, trying to scare us away from here,” Azlyn suggests. “Or maybe there’s a Heartless here. I just don’t see what’s got you so spooked, Tel.”

“Oh! Beast!” Sora exclaims, snapping his fingers triumphantly. “It’s the Beast!”

“Beast?” Telary repeats, one eyebrow raised. “You mean that big hairy guy from Hollow Bastion. The one who…”

“Who stood up for me while you two went skipping off with my possessed by Darkness best friend?” Sora finishes, never one to miss an opportunity for guilt.

Azlyn huffs indignantly. “If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times,” she rages, “there was a plan! And if you two were too _thick_ to get the nuances of it through your skulls…”

Another roar breaks up the knight’s insult.

“Man,” Telary says, looking to the staircase incredulously, “something must be really wrong to set Beast off like this. I wonder what’s up.”

Azlyn lets out a sudden sharp intake of breath, drawing the boys’ attention to her. “Well, I think I might have an idea,” she says, pointing to the two-dimensional shape of a Shadow Heartless scuttling across the foyer’s floor. The creature zooms past the trio and heads for the furthest door to the left.

The trio obviously follow, rushing into a small parlor with a lit fireplace. A large rug sits in front of the fire. There’s an armchair in one corner, a pile of books sitting by one leg. In the other corner, just to the left of the delicately carved mantle, sits a small table. Atop that is a clear glass bell jar, and inside that…

“What’s this rose doing here?” Azlyn asks no one in particular, slowly making her way to the single flower, suspended midair in the bell jar. That, as well as the subtle pink glow that the red petals give off, imply to the knight that this is no ordinary flower.

“Yes, let’s touch the stuff that belongs to the hulking, apparently pissed monstrosity,” Telary scolds the knight, frowning.

“Hey, Beast is a good guy!” Sora defends his friend. “If anything’s up, it’s because the Heartless…”

“Speaking of!” Azlyn calls to her companions. Both boys turn to see her backing away, shield in hand, from a trio of Shadows. In moments, another six or seven Heartless at least also appear, rising from the floor of the parlor and advancing on the trio.

Sora swipes through three Shadows in one blow, an amused grin on his face. “They’re just the little ones,” he declares, slashing a leaping Heartless midair. “Too easy!”

And it is easy, the trio wiping out at least a dozen Shadows in a minute. But then comes another minute of fighting, and another, and another. After about six minutes of solid combat, fatigue begins to set in.

“I’m out!” Telary informs his partners, waving his yellow and green staff for emphasis. “No more magic for a little while. Sorry guys.”

“Ah, there are just so many!” Sora grunts frustratedly. He swings the Keyblade down at a Shadow, but he’s too slow and it manages to dodge, thrusting at him and actually scoring a solid hit!

As if sensing the weakness of their opponents, the Shadows all start to form up as a unit, a solid black horde marching on the trio, who find themselves backed into the parlor’s corner, in front of the table with the rose.

“If Beast is out there, I hope he has good hearing,” Azlyn comments, kicking away a Heartless. “HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP US!”

As if answering the girl’s plea, another roar rips into the room, sounding even louder in the confined space. Sora swears he can feel his chest vibrate, and Telary shrinks back a little further into the corner. Even the Heartless seem to hesitate.

The parlor’s double doors burst open, a sudden gust of displaced air moving out from them to completely extinguish the fireplace’s flame. Into the darkness strides the massive form of Beast. Without the light of the fire it isn’t easy to make out details, but Sora remembers the brown fur, wolf-like snout, and sharp-tipped thorns. Tattered pants cover Beast’s thighs and upper calves, and a worn purple cloak billows out behind him.

With a quieter, but no less fierce, snarl of challenge, Beast descends on the Shadow horde, his massive paws tossing Heartless left and right, claws as sharp as a panther’s tearing the creatures apart.

Sora smiles at the sight of his old friend coming to their defense, Azlyn’s jaw drops from the impressive attack, and Telary presses even harder into the room’s wall.

Within seconds, what Heartless that have not been destroyed choose wisely to retreat, leaving only the trio and Beast standing in the parlor.

“Hey, wait to go, Beast!” Sora says cheerily, approaching the still panting behemoth with one hand raised for a high five. “You took on those guys like they were… YIKES!”

As soon as Sora comes within range, Beast lashes out with a paw swipe nearly as firm as he’d used against the Heartless. Caught unawares, Sora goes flying off his feet, slamming shoulder first into the wall. There’s a crack that might be a bone breaking.

“Hey!” Azlyn cries, stepping up to the Beast with a scowl, shield raised. “What was that for, you big ugly…?”

Azlyn doesn’t get to finish her statement to the Beast either, as he lashes out once more. Luckily for the knight, she’s able to catch the blow on her shield, and she merely falls into the armchair with a soft yelp.

Beast stalks forward, moving deliberately for the table with the bell jar and rose. As he approaches, the creature eyes Telary, almost daringly.

“Hey,” the wizard blurts out, dropping his staff and holding up his hands in surrender, “it’s your castle. Take whatever you want, I won’t stop you!”

With an animalistic huff of air through his nose, Beast grabs the glass jar, handling it delicately in his large paws. With a last narrow-eyed look at Telary, the Beast sniffs loudly and turns to exit, bushy tail swishing along as he walks back into the foyer.

Beast’s Castle

The Beast’s departure is like a sudden breath of fresh air, and the trio seems to come to life again. Telary takes a deep breath and slides down the wall, trying to calm himself. Azlyn shakes her head and rises from the armchair she’d landed in, still winded from Beast’s blow.

Sora moans in pain, his shoulder feeling like someone had gone at it with a sledge hammer.

“Some friend you got there,” Azlyn comments, gazing down at the injured Keybearer with her arms crossed tightly, her mouth twisted into a scowl.

Another groan is all the response Sora is up for, turning his head aside and letting out a deep breath. Telary, his magic still exhausted from the fight, plucks a potion off the pouch at his waist. He grabs Sora’s head and turns it upward once more, then tips the healing liquid into his mouth.

There’s another popping sound as the Keybearer’s shoulder heals, and after a sharp movement of pain, everything feels better.

“I don’t know what was wrong with him,” Sora says, frowning. “I mean, he was never the cuddliest guy, but he wouldn’t have attacked us like that.”

“Do you think he maybe could have forgotten who we are?” Telary suggests. “I mean, it’s been a while, and remember what Leon and the gang said about remembering us. Maybe whatever happened to them is affecting other people who knew us.”

Sora shrugs, glad that the action no longer aches his shoulder. “That could be it.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the Heartless,” Azlyn chimes in. “There were a whole lot of them creeping around in here.”

“If only there was somebody we could talk to about this,” Telary says. “Maybe get a better picture of what’s going on here.”

A smile suddenly spreads across Sora’s face. “Maybe there is,” he says, moving back out into the foyer, the Disney Castle pair following along after him. “If this is Beast’s castle, I’ll bet that Belle is around here somewhere too. They were close enough for him to come to Hollow Bastion for her.”

Telary grimaces. “And she’s a Princess of Heart, like Kairi,” the wizard points out. “That could have something to do with all of the Heartless around.”

By now they’ve reached the first landing up the main stairs, in front of the large door there. To their left and right, staircases climb to the upper levels.

“This castle is huge, and Belle could be anywhere,” Telary says. “Which way should we check first?”

“Right,” Azlyn says plainly, nodding to the stairs that lead up to the castle’s eastern wing.

“What makes you say that?” Sora asks.

The knight only shrugs. “Wanna go right,” is all the explanation she has for him. She begins to ascend the staircase, and her male companions follow after her.

The upstairs is a small maze of dourly appointed hallways, lined with half-shredded paintings and horrific statuary. Telary hardly stops shivering all through the walk.

Finally they seem to reach the end of the wing, a long hall with a window at the end, a small bench underneath it. Once again, scary-looking statues line the walls; horrific busts of demons wielding swords seem to stare down the trio as they make their way to the hall’s end.

“This is just terrible,” a faint, womanly voice comes from the hall’s end. Sora recognizes it pretty certainly as Belle’s. “I have to do something. But what? With the Heartless around…”

The trio reach the young woman’s door near the end of the hall. Azlyn steps up to the purple-painted wood and bangs her fist against it.

“Hey, open up!” she yells, not quite drowning out the frightened shriek from inside. “Don’t worry, we’re here to…”

Before Azlyn can finish reassuring the maiden of their noble intentions, the doors burst open and a small black shoe comes flying out, hitting Azlyn’s shoulder and nearly knocking the girl off balance.

“Stay back, I’m warning you!” Belle cries, as menacingly as she can. The Princess of Heart stands a few feet inside the room, her remaining shoe reared back and ready to fly. But when she catches sight of who it is that has come to see her, she drops the shoe to the floor and rushes forward, arms outstretched.

Azlyn, who is still nursing her injured shoulder, is the closest to the young woman, who wraps the knight up in an embrace that nearly knocks her wind out.

“Oh, it’s you!” she exclaims happily, swaying back and forth with Azlyn in her arms. “I’m so happy to see you, you have no idea!”

“Hey, Belle,” Sora greets the Princess of Heart cheerily. “It’s nice to see you again too.”

“Yeah, sure is,” Azlyn says, struggling her way out of the beautiful girl’s arms. She makes a minor show of brushing invisible lint off her jacket. “Maybe not as nice as _you_ seem to think it is, but nice.”

Belle gives Azlyn a sheepish smile, then moves forward again to take Sora and Telary in her arms. After a moment, she backs off.

“Please come in,” she encourages, stepping into her room. It’s small, but a fire is lit in the small fireplace, giving it a warmth the rest of the castle lacks. Against the wall opposite the fireplace is a comfortable-looking canopy bed with deep purple sheets. Glass doors lead to a small balcony outside, where it continues to storm.

“So, what’s up with the Beast?” Sora asks straight away, taking a set on the bed, which is as soft as it looks.

“So, you’ve seen him,” Belle says with a wince, closing the doors and turning to the trio, all now seated on her bed. “Was it…?”

“The big furball attacked us!” Azlyn says, clenching her fists. Belle gasps.

“It wasn’t as bad as it sounds,” Sora chimes in defensively. “He just kinda… pushed us around a little. No harm done, really.”

Belle nods, her lips a thin line. “Well, that’s good to hear,” she says after a pregnant pause. “He has been acting very strangely, though.”

“How so?” Telary asks, leaning forward with his hand on his chin. “Has he done anything to you?”

Belle shakes her head. “No. Actually, we haven’t even been talking lately. It seems like all he wants is to be left alone, I don’t understand it.”

“I got the impression he wasn’t the friendliest guy anyway,” Telary notes.

Belle shrugs, crossing her arms against her chest and letting out a sigh. “Oh, he’s very kind once you get to know him,” she states. “We’ve been getting along better than ever once we returned from Hollow Bastion, but then suddenly a little bit ago…” She shrugs again, out of words.

“I’m sorry Belle,” Sora apologizes. He’s still having trouble reconciling the noble creature who had remained by his side when no one else was, a constant source of courage and strength, with the ferocious monster that had shoved him into a wall.

The silent treatment behavior towards Belle is particularly puzzling. It had been Beast’s feelings for Belle that had gotten him from this world to Hollow Bastion without the aid of a vessel, made him stand up again after Riku had quite literally knocked him down. Why would he suddenly so blatantly shut her out?

“He even locked the castle staff, his most loyal servants, in the dungeon!” Belle informs the trio. “They’ve been taking care of him all of his life, and all of the sudden…”

“Dungeon?” Azlyn blurts, shaking her head. “That can’t be good! Not with the Heartless running around.”

“So, you’ve encountered them too,” Belle says. “I can’t believe they’re here in the castle again, it just reminds me of that night when…” The young peasant girl shivers frightfully. “Anyway, that’s the reason I haven’t gone looking for the servants. I can use my powers to hold back Heartless, but without the other Princesses that ability is limited, just enough to keep this room safe.”

“Well if there are people that need to be rescued,” Sora says, standing up, “and Heartless to be fought to get to them, we’re your men. And Azlyn, who’s a girl.”

“But I have to wonder why Beast would lock up his servants…” Telary says, his face scrunched in thought.

“We can ask them once they’re rescued,” Sora assures the wizard. He turns back to Belle. “How do we get to the dungeon?”

“You’ll have to go through the undercroft,” Belle answers. “You can find the entrance there from the West Hall. Be careful, Sora, Azlyn, Telary.”

After reassuring the Princess and making sure her Darkness-repelling powers are sufficient for protection, the trio once again set out through the castle’s eastern wing.

Along the way, Sora stops to examine one of the many demonic busts lining the hallways.

“Y’know,” he says, cocking his head and pursing his lips, “I’m starting to see what you’ve been saying about a horror story, Tel. This whole place reminds me of the kind of story Riku would tell at campfires. He was always trying to freak me out.”

“It’s really no wonder Beast is in such a gloom and doom mood,” Telary agrees, also stepping up to examine the statue. “If I had to live my life surrounded by this kind of art, I think I’d go pretty…”

“BOO!”

Both boys yelp and turn, holding each other in fear as they scream. After a few seconds, however, they realize that Azlyn is standing in front of them, clutching her stomach as she laughs at her prank.

“Oh _man_!” the girl exclaims through her loud laughs. The boys let go of each other and glare at her in tandem. “The look on your faces! You are so easy, I…”

Anything else the knight has to say is cut off, along with her laughter, as a few feet down the hall there sounds a large _crack_ , like a rock shattering into rubble. Turning, the trio see one of the statues, a hideously demonic, winged figure clutching a longsword, scampering down the hall, its pedestal scuttling along to provide forward motion.

It’s Azlyn’s turn to yelp in fear, but before the evil bust can reach her, Sora steps up between them, Keyblade summoned and ready to go. As the gargoyle comes inside whacking range, the boy swings his key with all his might. The supernatural metal of the blade proves denser than the stone, and the bust and pedestal both crumble into stone chunks.

“Look!” Telary calls, pointing at the destroyed statue. Out of the shattered remains rises an orb of pure black mist, two illuminated yellow eyes shining out of it. For a moment the creature, obviously some kind of Heartless, just stares at the group. Then, suddenly realizing danger is afoot, the shadowy creature dive-bombs another statue, this one more heavily armored than the last.

The creature tries to press another attack, but before it can Sora raises the Keyblade. There’s a flash, and a thin beam of white light impacts against the demonic statuary. For a moment all is still, then suddenly the Possessor flies back out of its sanctuary, yellow eye seeming almost bewildered.

It recovers plenty quickly, however, turning tail and zipping down the hallway back towards the foyer.

“After it!” Azlyn calls, already sprinting behind the creature. The chase doesn’t last long, and in less than a minute the trio have arrived back in the entrance hall, still as dark and gloomy as ever. “Lost it!”

With the prospects of finding the Heartless once again grim, the group decides to just go on and proceed to the West Hall.

The western wing of the castle is far less elaborately laid out than the east, a large, surprisingly well-lit hallway with a right angle turn into another. The first stretch is occupied by rows of gleaming silver suits of armor.

At one point on their journey down the hallway, Telary swears he sees the helmet of one suit swivel to watch as they pass, but he quickly turns back for a second glance and finds the suit completely still. Just a trick of his fearful imagination, he suspects.

The next hallway they turn into is longer and wider than the first, and to the right near the end is a small staircase, then a landing with more knights “guarding” it, and a few more steps into a further area of the wing.

Just opposite to the stairs, a large white wardrobe stands before a plain wooden door set into the wall.

“This is probably it,” Sora points out.

Azlyn stares at the wardrobe for a moment, then rolls her eyes and moves to its side, placing her hands against it and preparing to move it. “Some protection Beast set up here,” the knight snorts as she gives the guardian furniture a push. “Oh, no, watch out for the big scary dresser…”

“Do you _mind_?”

The boisterous yet unmistakably feminine voice shocks the entire trio, but most of all Azlyn, who lets out a frightened squeak and jump back.

The trio all cluster together as the wardrobe suddenly sprouts a face!

“Well, I _never_!” the furniture says, sounding very offended as she bats her long-lashed eyes, revealing what looks like rouge where her eyelids should be. “For your information, I was taking a nap. It’s been a very stressful few days, and I just need some beauty sleep, okay? Thank you very much!”

With one last indignant huff, the wardrobe scoots back into her place in front of the door closes her eyes, and drifts off.

“Oh, c’mon!” Azlyn complains, though quietly so as to not awaken the wardrobe. “There are Heartless in the castle, servants in the dungeon, and Beast is apparently embracing the roots of his nickname all over the place, and this glorified closet is concerned with a nap?”

Sora giggles. “Y’know what this reminds me of?” he says, giving the others a knowing look.

Azlyn furrows her brow at the Keybearer, but Telary picks up what he’s referring to. “The doorknob,” he says, smiling thinly. “Back in Wonderland. The one who had the Keyhole in his mouth!”

Suddenly caught up in their remembrance, the trio all let out loud laughs at their memories of the strange world of Wonderland.

“ _Excuse_ me!” the wardrobe almost bellows indignantly. Turning, the trio see her giving them all a look just shy of enraged. “What did I tell you about keeping it down?”

The trio’s laughs become even bolder, remembering how Doorknob had used much the same phrasing. The wardrobe gets accordingly less pleased.

“I’m, uh, I’m sorry, ma’am,” Telary apologizes, getting control of his amusement quicker than the other two. “We don’t mean to be rude, it’s just… Well, honestly you remind us of someone else we’ve met.”

“Really?” the wardrobe says, cocking her whole body curiously. “I can’t imagine how.”

“Let’s just say we get around a lot,” Sora states. “And right now, we need to get into the dungeon! Belle said the castle servants are trapped down there, so…”

“Oh!” the wardrobe explains, perking up considerably. “Why didn’t you just say so in the first place? If you’re here to rescue my friends, of course I can let you into the undercroft. My goodness, what was I thinking?”

“Apparently there’s just something about being furniture that makes you sleepy,” Telary says flippantly.

The wardrobe frowns. “I wasn’t always like this you know,” she says, sighing. “I used to be human, just like you… Well, okay, I was a little bigger than you all are, but human nonetheless! I just got turned _into_ a wardrobe when the prince got cursed, probably due to my impeccable sense of style…”

“Cursed?” Sora blurts, cocking his head curiously.

“Prince?” Azlyn says, equally confused.

“Uh, yes,” the wardrobe says slowly, as if the pair of seventeen-year olds are missing something obvious. “The master of this castle wasn’t always the beast he is today. He was cursed you see, by a…”

For a moment the wardrobe’s unsaid words linger in the air, and the trio leans forward to hear more.

“You know something?” the wardrobe finally says, straightening up and looking down almost haughtily at the offworlders. “I think that’s enough for now. After all, it’ll give you something to look forward to when you’ve rescued the others.”

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary almost literally deflate.

“Uh, thank you for your time, ma’am,” Telary says, straightening up and trying to maintain good manners. “You were a real help.”

“What?” Sora exclaims. “No she…” Azlyn elbows the Keybearer in the side, and he takes the hint to shut his mouth.

The stairway down to the undercroft is long, cramped, and poorly lit, but a torch spell from Telary keeps the trio from tripping over anything in the dark.

“So,” Azlyn says conversationally, “are we gonna have a discussion about the closet lady, or not?”

“Well, every world _is_ a little bit different,” Telary says from his position at the head of the group. It is not a placement he lobbied for. “Need I bring up Wonderland again?”

“I don’t know,” Sora says, chewing on his lip a bit. “I mean, Belle seems pretty normal, right? So there have to be regular humans like us somewhere.”

“Let’s just focus on the rescue for now, alright,” Telary says commandingly. “After all, there are people down here that need our help.”

“You’re right,” Sora agrees easily.

“If they even _are_ people,” Azlyn mutters to herself.

The undercroft is a basic sort of basement set up, a large square room surrounded by walls of green brick. In both corners beside the entrance, piles of wooden crates and old, mostly broken furniture pieces sit, covered in layers of dust.

The most impressive feature of the small room is an elaborately carved granite door, two monstrous creatures carved on either of side. They’re impressively detailed, horned things with long, clawed arms reaching out.

“Of course, this place has a creepy sculpture too,” Azlyn complains, frowning at the double-monstrosity of stone. “Y’know, there is such a thing as overkill.”

“No kidding,” Telary agrees, warily keeping his distance. “Okay, Sora, go on and open it.”

Sora almost says something to the wizard, but after taking into account Telary’s general fearfulness of this castle and Azlyn’s unpleasant encounter with Belle’s shoe, he decides to just go ahead and make the first move. Especially since the Keyblade will doubtless be needed to unlock the dungeon door.

Just as he’s approaching the doors, looking warily over the monstrous carving upon them, he hears a shout from Telary. Whirling, the Keybearer sees the misty Heartless from before, the one that had possessed the East Wing statue and attacked the party.

The Possessor seems to be making a beeline for the door carvings. Realizing how dangerous that might prove, Sora reacts instantly, shooting off a Fire spell to intercept the creature.

The Possessor proves a bit too canny for that, however, dodging around the ball of flame. Sora grunts frustratedly, but he’s barely finished with that before a streak of white lightning zaps through the air at the speed of light, vaporizing the Heartless where it floats.

It takes a moment for Sora’s eyes to adjust after experiencing the brilliance of the electricity but when they do, the boy follows the path of the blast back to Telary, who looks rather pleased with himself.

“That was close, huh?” the wizard says, letting out a puff of air. “I mean, could you imagine what would’ve happened if that Heartless had overtaken those carvings?”

Sora nods. “I hear that!” Satisfied that the danger is passed, Sora turns and readies the Keyblade. After a moment of consideration, he frowns at the door carvings. With a might whack, he crushes one to tiny stone pieces that fall to the floor of the undercroft. Taking another heaving breath, he unloads a two-handed swing on the other as well, and soon the spooky carvings are nothing more than rubble on the floor.

Smiling to himself, the Keybearer calls upon the Keyblade’s supernatural powers of unlocking, tapping the dungeon doors. Azlyn is right next to him, on hand to pry the door open.

The dungeon is an even smaller, more cramped room than the undercroft before it, though done in largely the same style, piles of hay stacked in the corners rather than the flotsam and furniture of the previous area.

Other than the hay and an odd quintet of everyday household items: a golden candelabra, a small windup clock, a white porcelain teapot and matching (minus the chip in the rim) cup, and a feather duster, the place is empty.

“Huh,” is all the Keyblade wielder says, looking over the room concernedly. “That’s weird, there’s nobody in here.”

“Nobody at all?’ Azlyn asks incredulously, shouldering her companions aside for a better look inside the cramped room. “Then who are we supposed to rescue?”

“Rescue!” a heavily accented voce suddenly rings out in the cramped room. “Did you hear that?”

“Shhh!” another, prissier voice exclaims. “Keep quiet, you have no idea who these people are!”

“But they say they want to recue us!” a warm, almost grandmotherly female voice points out. “And they look like such nice young ones.”

“We _are_ pretty nice,” Telary replies, still looking around for the source of any one of these voices. Perhaps the hay? “Most of the time, I guess.”

“If it helps,” Sora says, almost sheepish without anyone to direct the words to, “Belle is the one who sent us. She said you were locked up in here, and…”

“Belle!” the grandmotherly voice says cheerfully. “Well, that settles it then!”

“Oh, I suppose,” Prissy agrees reluctantly.

“Splendid!” the most boisterous voice declares. Suddenly, two waxy eyelids open in the gold candelabra’s main candle, a warm blue color. A mouth follows, peeling back into a smile.

All around, features appear on the other items as well, and they begin hopping over to stand before the trio.

For their part, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary just crouch down, each jockeying for a better position in which to examine these strange servants.

“Hello and welcome!” the candelabra greets, his outer arms opening wide as his golden torso leans down in a showmanly bow.

“We really must thank you for our timely rescue!” the feather duster says in an accented, pouty voice. Her face, thing red lips included, moves on the bottom of her handle. “If I had been down here much longer, I am afraid that even _mon amour’s_ light could have kept away my fear of ze dark!”

“Oh dear, and we haven’t even introduced ourselves!” the teapot says, rolling her eyes at her lapse in manners. “My name is Mrs. Potts. This here is me son Chip.” She nudges the appropriately chipped cup by her side. “Say hello to the nice people dear.”

“Hullo,” Chip answers in a small voice.

“I am Lumiere, _maître d’_ of this castle,” the candelabra says, bowing once again.

“ _Je suis_ _Babette_ ,” the feather duster says.

The clock speaks up next. “I am Cogsworth, head of the… Aaaah!”

Azlyn, curiosity finally having gotten the better of her, holds up Cogsworth and begins to examine him, even going so far as to open the cavity in his chest where his golden pendulum ticks back and forth with the passing of seconds.

“Oh, what are you doing?” Sora admonishes his companion over the sounds of Cogsworth’s indignant cries. “We’re trying to prove we can be trusted.”

Azlyn stops, the good sense to look ashamed coming over her.

“I’m Sora,” the Keybearer says, smiling down at the objects before him. “My grabby friend here is Azlyn, and this is Telary.”

“Hi,” the wizard says, sounding distracted by something.

“Well, we are _certainment_ overjoyed to see you!” Lumiere says cheerfully.

“You’re under a spell, right?” Telary cuts in suddenly. “All of you, some kind of magic makes you look like this, doesn’t it?”

“Why, you are very correct in that… Stop that!” Cogsworth’s arm reaches out to swat away another investigative probe from Azlyn. Rolling his eyes, Sora nudges the girl, who gets the hint to set Cogsworth back on solid ground.

“It was zat _terrible_ Enchantress!” Babette exclaims in her high-pitched voice, a mixture of disgust and fear in her words. “She is ze _raison_ for our miserable states.”

“What happened?” Sora asks. “The wardrobe upstairs wouldn’t tell us. Said it could wait until you all had been rescued.”

“Ah, yes,” Lumiere sighs, the flames at the top of his head and ends of his hands dimming, “it seems so long ago, that terrible night.”

“It was a rather chilly evening, I remember,” Mrs. Potts picks up the thread. “An old beggar woman, dressed rather raggedly and not much to look at besides, came to the castle. She sought shelter, she did.”

“Unfortunately the prince, master of this castle, was not so inclined to offer her any,” Cogsworth adds, obviously lamenting that decision even now. “He turned her away, despite her protestations.”

“You see, ze Master had made some, ah, _quel est le mot_ , uncharitable comments on the state of her looks,” Lumiere butts in sheepishly, drawing a look from Cogsworth.

“Wow,” Telary says suddenly, “that’s pretty awful.”

Lumiere nods agreeably. “Unfortunately, zat was ze kind of person ze master was in those days. Selfish, arrogant, entitled, more than a little cruel…”

“ _Lumiere_!” Cogsworth interjects, positively scandalized. “Show some respect for…”

“Oh, he’s spot on right and you know it, my dear,” Mrs. Potts says, disappointment ringing out in her voice. “Anyhow, the beggar warned him not to be so judgmental based on appearance alone. She asked once more for help, but again the Prince refused.” Another sigh from the teapot. “Such a stubborn child…”

“At that moment, the old woman’s ugliness melted away, revealing her true form as a beautiful enchantress,” Cogsworth adds, uncomfortable with all this negative talk about the master. “It was at that moment he realized his mistakes, and begged for mercy, forgiveness for his thoughtless actions.”

“Ze Enchantress cared little for his pleas,” Lumiere says, shaking his head. “After all, ze only reason he wanted to take back his thoughtless words was fear.”

“And so,” Mrs. Potts finishes with a sigh, “the Enchantress cast a spell on the Master, which transformed him into the Beast he is today. She thought the new shape fitting, a perfect match for his ugly heart.”

“And, uh, you guys…?” Sora inquires.

“As the Enchantress saw it, Master’s shortcomings were as much on our heads as his,” Cogsworth explains, looking at the ground in shame. “After all, we had been the ones to raise him to be the person he was.”

“Wow,” Telary says, shaking his head. “That is all kinds of awful. Anything we ca do to help?”

“Maybe we oughta find that Enchantress jerk!” Azlyn proclaims, smacking a gloved fist into her open pal. “Give her a taste of…”

“I fear zat any retribution of zat sort is far out of our reach, _mon ami_ ,” Lumiere interrupts sullenly. “In fact, the conditions of curing ze spell are quite clear.

“Unfortunately, as things stand,” Cogsworth says, “I fear our chances of being restored grow ever dimmer.”

“You mean ‘cause Beast is acting like a grade-A jerk?” Azlyn says.

“While zat is a bit of a, how do you say, colorful description… _Oui_.” Lumiere says, nodding in agreement.

“Any clues as to why?” Telary asks. “Have any of you noticed anything these past few days, or weeks, or…”

“Um, well,” Cogsworth speaks up timidly, shaking as all eyes turn to him, “I may have something to report. You see, a few days ago I happened to be near the Master’s chambers, just checking up on the state of affairs in the West Wing. And when I was passing by the master’s room, I heard voices, two of them to be precise. One belonged to the master, but the other… Well, I’m afraid it belonged to no one I’m familiar with.”

“Heartless?” Telary posits, looking to his companions.

“Maybe the Organization, this sounds like their style,” Azlyn counters. “Shifty Nobodies…”

“Well, either way,” Sora interjects, “it’s a good thing we’re here to deal with the situation. After all, Beast is my friend, and if there’s something getting in the way of him becoming normal again, I want to help.”

“We should at least go try and talk to him,” Telary suggests. “After all, a bit of diplomacy can go a long way!”

“I shall take you to the master,” Cogsworth volunteers.

“I wish I could go too, but there are lots of things must need attending to after so long away,” Lumiere says.

And so, Cogsworth leads Sora, Azlyn, and Telary back up the stairs into the West Hall, where the quartet parts with the rest of the servants, all offering their thoughts and prayers for success.

The trip from West Hall to West Wing is a short one, just up a few staircases and down a hall. It’s obvious when one becomes the other, the lights of the West Hall making way for a profound gloom that somehow seems even deeper than that of the East Wing.

Much of that feeling, Sora suspects, has to do with the utter devastation that this wing has suffered. Everywhere the party turns they find a newly decimated statue, ripped painting, and shattered mirror in an elaborate flame.

“Ah, yes,” Cogsworth sighs, apparently having picked up on the Keybearer’s mood. “When the master first was transformed, he was quite… upset. He went on an absolute _rampage_ , nearly tore down the castle before he was calmed.”

“This place seems to have been particularly hard-hit,” Telary notes.

Cogsworth nods. “Well, the staff did quite a bit of tidying up around the rest of the castle.” Another sigh, this one deeper and sadder than the previous. “That was what we did, most of that first year. It helped us adjust to our new forms, gave us a distraction from the harsh reality we were faced with. As the years wore on, however, we began to lose all hope, despair taking hold. It wasn’t until Belle arrived that…”

“Shh!” Azlyn suddenly hisses, cutting of the clockwork butler’s monologue. The trio are at the end of a long hallways now, an elaborate door at the end of it. Well, once-elaborate anyway. Now it sags in the frame, deep gashes on its face.

From behind it, faint voices can be heard.

“Everything you have will be taken from you,” an unfamiliar voice, deep and throaty with just a hint of a rasp at its edges, says. “This has been her plan from the beginning. In your heart, you know this.”

“B-but,” Beast’s voice protests, sounding almost confused, “Belle has never, she’s only…”

“She has only made you _think_ she cares for you.” There’s the sound of footsteps, and an odd rattling, like metal clinking against metal. “You must not allow your feelings for the girl to diminish the power of your anger. Only _that_ can keep you strong.”

There’s a pause before Beast replies. “Anger? What has anger done for me, hm? I don’t want to be angry anymore, Xaldin, I only want…”

Xaldin scoffs. “What? To love and be loved in return?” The mysterious voice laughs, though there is only hollowness in the sound. “You may well give up on that dream, my friend. After all, who could love a Beast?”

Sora can’t take any more sitting around, letting some stranger talk to the Beast, his friend, in such a manner. Summoning the Keyblade into his hands, the boy leaps forward, shouldering open the ruined doorway.

He emerges in a large, messy bedchamber, with as much junk piled at the room’s edges as anywhere else in the castle. Off to the right a ruined four-poster bed lies, the mattress savaged by claws. On the left wall hangs a ruined painting, and in the middle, just before a wide glass door out onto a balcony, the Beast stands before a small pedestal, the glass jar and glowing rose atop it.

Next to Beast is a figure whose attire Sora recognizes instantly, passively staring at the boy and his companions from beneath a raised, darkened hood.

“Nobody!” Azlyn exclaims. “Organization XIII Nobody!”

“Don’t listen to him, Beast!” Sora warns his friend, who seems to have gone oddly still, staring at the floor and breathing heavily. “He’s a bad guy!”

The hood of the Nobody, Xaldin, tilts slightly to the side. “Am I really?” he says, almost seeming amused by the accusation. The Nobody turns back to Beast. “Or are _they_ your real enemies, hm? That Belle is a crafty one. No doubt these are her accomplices…”

Before the trio can even indignantly respond to Xaldin’s claim, a dark portal rises from the ground to engulf the Nobody, leaving no trace of him behind.

“He’s wrong, Beast!” Sora protests, wary of the way that his furry friend continues to say nothing. “We’re your friends, remember? We met back in…”

A roar from the Beast cuts off any nostalgic appeals the Keybearer can make, and suddenly the cursed prince raises his head, snarling angrily at the party. The sheer force of Beast’s angry gaze is enough to send them all peddling back a step.

“Master, please…!” Cogsworth cries, but the clock can’t get out more than that before Beast charges the group, roaring his rage once again.

Telary yelps, scoops up Cogsworth, and dives to the side, barely avoiding Beast’s onslaught. Sora and Azlyn manage to make more dignified sidesteps, but in seconds Beast is on them too, swinging his clawed paw at the pair.

Azlyn raises her shield in time to deflect, and it’s the matter of but a moment for Sora to lash out with the Keyblade. He makes solid contact with Beast’s arm, and the former prince roars in rage and pain, but takes a step back.

Telary, his head smarting from where he’d accidently impacted, watches as Beast makes another forward move, thankful that his friends are able to dodge before ending up eviscerated.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” Cogsworth mutters, shaking his head back and forth nervously. “This is absolutely dreadful!”

“I’ll say,” Telary agrees, wincing as Azlyn barely ducks beneath a strong swipe. “It’s like he’s lost all of his humanity!”

“This is how he was when the spell first took hold,” Cogsworth says. “It wasn’t until Belle arrived that he began to wake up to…”

“That’s it!” Telary exclaims, standing quickly. Across the room, Beast is backing Sora and Azlyn into a corner, but Telary ignores that and grabs Cogsworth, lifting him to chest height.

“What?” Cogsworth exclaims, indignant. “Telary, what is the meaning of… Ouch!”

Telary winces at the butler’s pain, but keeps turning the golden key at his back, hoping that his theory works out like he posits it should. Once satisfied with the rotation, the wizard stumbles off the junk pile, headed for Beast.

“What,” Azlyn asks Sora, grunting as Beast slaps another blow against her raised shield, “is that crazy wizard doing?”

“Hey, uh, Beast!” Telary cries, holding Cogsworth in front of him like a shield. Snarling, Beast whips around to face the wizard. “Wakey wakey!”

Beast angrily huffs once more, but Telary release Cogsworth’s key, setting the clock to ringing. The noise is loud and high-pitched, and seems too much for Beast, who roars, covers his ears and stumbles back several steps.

After a long string of seconds, Cogsworth’s alarm finally dies down, leaving only the grunting sounds of the still aching Beast.

“Wow,” Azlyn comments, placing her shield back on its magnetic strip. Beside her, Sora dismisses his own weapon.

“I figured that whatever that Nobody was doing, it had to be affecting Beast on an unconscious level,” the wizard explains, placing the still slightly scandalized Cogsworth back on the floor. “That’s the same part of your brain that’s active when you’re asleep, so…”

“You just woke him up,” Sora finishes, grinning. “Good work, Tel.”

Beat’s grunts turn to groans, and suddenly he looks up, a dazedly glancing at the assembled party. Seeing Cogsworth, he suddenly snaps back into focus.

“Oh, Cogsworth,” Beast says, still sounding weary and pained. “What… What happened to me? Why does my head…?”

“That Organization XIII guy tried messing with your head,” Sora interrupts. Beast’s gaze finds the Keybearer, looking oddly like he didn’t expect to see the boy.

“You locked everyone up in your dungeon!” Azlyn adds

Beast looks crestfallen at the news. “I… I did?”

“Um, I am afraid that, er, you did, Master,” Cogsworth stammers, his wooden leg awkwardly scraping at the floorboards. “It was, well, if I may be so bold, rather unpleasant.”

“I… I don’t remember that,” Beast admits. “Ever since the man in the cloak… Xaldin!”

“I’m pretty sure that Xaldin is a Nobody,” Sora explains. “A really powerful one, too. They supposedly have some freaky powers, so maybe he was using them on you.”

Beast nods. “Yes, he… He took all of my pain and sadness,” the former prince explains numbly, “everything I had, and he turned it all into rage. I was so lost… I could hardly hold on to who I was, I became… I became a monster!”

“Maybe that’s why you put everyone in the dungeon,” Azlyn says thoughtfully. Every eye turns to her, at a loss as to her meaning. She explains: “You knew, on some level maybe, that you were turning back into the old Beast, the big bad tornado destructor one. So, you locked everyone up so that you wouldn’t hurt them.”

Beast nods, mulling the answer over in his mind. Sora and Telary just continue to stare at the female knight.

She gives them a glare back. “What, I can’t have an insight?”

“Was that truly it?” Beast says lowly, almost too quiet to be heard. “Was I protecting them from myself?”

“I’ll bet you were, buddy,” Sora assures the former prince. “I know you’re good on the inside, man. Everyone here does.”

“That is true, Master,” Cogsworth agrees. “After all, we have all seen your capacity for kindness and goodness. Remember when you gave Mistress Belle…”

“Belle!” Beast suddenly laments, head in paws once again. “Oh, I’ve mistreated her most of all. I remember being, being so cruel to her. She must despise me for what I’ve done.”

“She didn’t tell us anything like that,” Sora assures his friend. “She mostly just sounded…”

“She’d never tell anyone of my cruelty,” Beast interrupts, shaking his massive head. “She’s far too good. She’s beautiful on the inside and out, while I’m just…”

“Hey, cut that pity crap out!” Azlyn yells suddenly, Beast’s head snapping up at the sound. “Good gravy, man! Did that spell turn you into a Beast, or just an overgrown kitten?”

“Azlyn!” Telary exclaims, thoroughly scandalized. “Please, have some manners. Especially when you’re addressing giant beast-men.”

“She has a point, actually,” Sora says in a small voice. Telary turns to the Keybearer, eyebrows raised. He shrugs in response. “I’m just saying, it doesn’t do any good for Beast to stand around feeling sorry for himself! He should go talk to Belle. Apologize.”

“You’re right,” Beast sighs, his whole body drooping at the thought. “It won’t be easy, after everything I’ve done, but…”

“Master, Master!” the small, childish voice of Chip the cup cries out, the sounds of porcelain hopping against wood following him into the room. Everyone turns to look at the little fellow. “You have to come quick, Master! Belle’s in the ballroom and, and… I think she’s in trouble!”

Beast growls, literally _growls_ , at the thought of Belle in danger.

“I thought she was going to stay in her room!” Sora says. “Use her powers to keep the Heartless from…”

“That silly girl never does what’s sensible!” Beast grunts, sounding more perturbed now than worried. “I should’ve known that she’d…”

“You just stop that right there, Master!” Mrs. Potts interrupts, hopping into the room with an angry, disappointed look on her face. “You know very well that Belle’s a spirited girl! It’s part of what makes her so special.”

“And besides,” Azlyn cuts in, “I think you’d be better off using that anger to help her out. With as many Heartless as we’ve seen _and_ an Organization XIII member running around, she could be in real danger.”

“You’re right,” Beast sighs, already heading for the ruined remains of the door. “Let’s go save Belle.”

By the time they reach the entrance hall, the party can clearly hear Belle’s voice through the tall ballroom doors on the landing below.

“Stay back, I’m warning you!” she yells, defiant but undoubtedly shaky. “I’m a Princess of Heart, and I have powers I can use to…”

A loud scream cuts off the warning, obviously Belle’s. Hearing it, Beast shoulders his way through the ballroom doors.

Inside the grand room, Belle backs away from an enormous creature, obviously a Heartless, headed for the glass-paneled French doors in the back wall for safety. As the sound of the door’s violent opening echoes into the massive area, she risks a quick look to her saviors.

The doors’ slam also gets a reaction from the Heartless, which cranes its horned head towards the newly arrived party. It’s a big one, looming even larger than Beast and constructed similarly in bulk, with huge hands that end in wicked orange claws. A long orange mane flows down from its head, and its entire body is wrapped in green thorns.

Beast snarls a challenge, and the Heartless turns to fully face the party. Belle takes advantage of the opportunity to slip out the back.

For a moment the ballroom is still, Sora, Beast, and company squaring off silently with the Dark Thorn Heartless. There’s a sudden small noise, the _click_ of the backdoors closing, and suddenly all erupts into chaos.

Beast roars and charges, and Dark Thorn lets out a matching sound, also running for its opponents. The two great beasts clash halfway to each other, using all of their unnatural strengths to try and gain an upper hand.

After only a few seconds, it becomes clear that Beast cannot match the Heartless. Luckily for the former prince however, he has friends by his side.

Azlyn and Sora each charge to a different side of the Heartless, hammering their weapons into its black skin. Bits of shadowy mist fly from the point of contact, and suddenly Beast gains an upper hand in the grapple.

Sensing that its moment has passed, the Dark Thorn lets out a challenging roar and breaks away from the tussle, loping off further into the ballroom. It ends up taking refuge underneath the long upper level that runs a parallel to the lower ballroom, crouching behind the structure’s supporting columns.

Not content to let their enemy escape so easily, Sora, Azlyn, and Beast charge. Dark Thorn is clever enough to not stay where it is however, and rushes to the side. Beast plows into a pillar and knocks it cleanly down, where it hits the polished marble floor and shatters into several hundred pieces.

Dark Thorn takes an unwise moment to gloat, and before it can get moving again, Azlyn and Sora are on it, weapons flashing. Thorn cries out in pain and lashes out with an arm, catching Sora in the chest and sending him flying back. Azlyn dodges, however, and knocks into the Heartless’s leg with the face of her shield.

Dark Thorn kicks out, hitting the knight’s shoulder and flinging her back into a pillar which cracks with the impact of her back against it. With a weak grunt, she slides to the ground.

Telary, having taken advantage of the distraction of his companions’ more direct approach, whacks into Dark Thorn’s back with his staff. It does hardly anything, but when the creature turns around Telary gives it a face full of fire.

Beast charges into its back next, tackling it and sending both fighters skidding into the center of the room. Dark Thorn bellows and swings its elbow back, catching Beast’s nose. Despite the shock, the former prince manages to hold on, grabbing a fistful of the Heartless’s orange mane and slamming its face into the ground.

Once, twice, three times the creature’s head impacts the ballroom floor, scuffing the finished marble considerably. Releasing that it is in a truly untenable position, the Heartless closes its eyes.

Suddenly there’s a shadowy pulse of violet light, and a smaller, round Heartless wrapped in chains emerges from its monstrous shell, which returns to being a stone statue.

The sight of the new Heartless rising from the crushed remains of Dark Thorn gives Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, who are all rushing to assist Beast, a momentary pause. They watch as the Shadow Stalker flies up towards the ceiling, colliding with the ornate chandelier suspended high above.

In a rush, every bright flame on every candle darkens to black, sending the entire ballroom into shadow. After the Heartless spends a second adjusting, the long chain of the chandelier begins to descend rapidly…

Right towards the still lying flat Beast.

With no time to lose, the trio all charge. As they go, Azlyn prepares her shield, stopping and turning into a skid against the marble tile. Sora jumps right to her, feet bracing against the shield. With a grunt the knight pushes the Keybearer into the air, and he flies towards the possessed chandelier with the Keyblade out and ready.

With a cry, Sora crashes into the falling light fixture, the momentum of his rush sending it swinging towards the balcony. It impacts, taking a chunk of stone with it, then swings back the other direction weakly.

Azlyn is ready to meet it, jumping up and latching onto the chandelier. Looking down, she can just make out the face of the Heartless inside, looking up at her with glowing yellow eyes. With a sound of distaste, she slams her foot into the face, feeling the impact against her boot.

“It’s locked in there, Sora!” Telary yells out to the still-clinging Keybearer. “Just like the other one. Use the Keyblade to get it out!”

Nodding, the boy raises his blade and calls upon its power, visualizing a lock clicking open. He thrusts the weapon down, sending a beam of white light into the Heartless face.

There’s a sound like a strangled cry, and suddenly the Shadow Stalker shoots forth from the chandelier, returning it to its normal coloration, all candles extinguished.

The Heartless retreats, floating towards the ballroom’s back wall, but the speed of its escape is no match for the Beast, who rushes after the creature with a cry, jumps up, and slams it into the ground.

The Heartless makes a noise almost like a grunt, then releases a flash of violet light with its whole body, the pulse of pure Darkness hitting the Beast like a wall of flame. He cries out and stumbles back, violet fire still clinging to his arms.

Shadow Stalker rises back into the air, spitting another burst of purple fire at Beast. He roars, shying away from the still attacking creature.

Azlyn and Sora rush to help, but both of the pair are still wobbling from their chandelier ride, and only make it a few steps before collapsing to the floor. Azlyn is unfortunately too close to Telary when she falls, and the dead weight of her body sends the wizard down too.

Beast lunges for the Shadow Stalker, but it’s a simple enough matter for the Heartless to dodge. Still feeling the burns along his arms, Beast collapses to the ground, Shadow Stalker stalking over to his prone form.

Beast weakly flips around to his back, the Heartless looming large above him. He grunts and tries to move, but weakness has overcome him. Falling back, the former prince thinks back to all the regrets of his life: rejecting the beggar woman, mistreating his servants, never saying what he’d always meant to say to…

There’s a sudden flare of light, illuminating the darkened ballroom almost painfully before settling into a dull radiance. Turning, the downed combatants and victorious Heartless see the French doors of the ballroom flung open, the light apparently coming from the balcony outside.

More specifically, from Belle.

The peasant girl stands strong, backlit by a soft whiteness nearly as bright as a summer sun. Shadow Stalker actually recoils, letting out a whining howl of pain.

The Light fades after a moment, but Belle still stands, arms folded across her chest.

“You stay away from him!” the Princess of Heart orders, the words ringing out as if trumpeted. “And leave this castle!”

For a moment Shadow Stalker only floats numbly, stunned by the awesome power of this young woman’s heart.

It’s enough of a distraction for Sora to rise again, shake away his dizziness, and unleash a stab from the Keyblade that pierces straight through the Heartless’s middle.

Shadow Stalker howls once more, but the sound is hollow, as if heard through a thick glass case. With a last noise of fear and pain, the Heartless collapses into a dark mist, its threat ended.

“B-Belle…” Beast mumbles, and the girl in question goes immediately to his side, the powerful resonance of her pure heart fading out instantly, returning her to the otherwise normal girl she is.

“Are you alright?” she asks the Beast, gently touching his cheek with her hand. “I-I didn’t know what to do, but I heard that you were in pain and I had to do something! Everything after, well, it just sort of came to me…”

“You were awesome!” Azlyn exclaims, her and Telary making their way to the rest of the group. “I’ve never seen anything like that!”

“Yeah,” Sora agrees cheerfully, nodding. “If it weren’t for you, we might’ve been done for! But, everything’s okay now.”

“So you may think,” the familiar voice of Xaldin sneers from behind the group. Turning, the all see the Nobody standing calmly across the room. “But mark my words Beast, I _will_ see you give in to anger. To _Darkness!_ ”

“Xaldin!” Beast roars, springing to his feet almost miraculously quickly and charging the Organization XIII member. Azlyn and Sora join him, sprinting with weapons drawn.

Xaldin barely reacts at all, merely lets out a dismissive sound and allows a dark portal to swallow him.

“What a creep!” Azlyn practically spits.

“What does he want here?” Beast asks, turning to Sora with a quizzical look. By now Belle and Telary have caught up with everyone else, and the peasant girl stands by the former prince’s side looking worried.

“Like I said before, I think he’s a Nobody,” Sora explains, frowning at the thought of the vile creatures. “When a strong-hearted person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody gets created too. A bunch of them have teamed up I guess, formed Organization XIII.”

“Probably to take over the universe,” Azlyn grumbles, arms crossed irritably across her chest.

“Organization XIII Nobodies, like Xaldin, control all the rest of them,” Telary continues. “I think maybe that’s why they had all these Heartless in the castle. They must’ve wanted you to become one, so they could use your Nobody.”

“But you’re alright now,” Belle says, smiling at Beast. It’s a thin smile, however, masking something deeper beneath it.

Beast senses the undercurrent as well, and turns away momentarily. When he turns back, one paw scratches his neck awkwardly.

“About before, Belle,” the former prince nearly stammers, “I… I am so sorry for the way I acted. I just wasn’t myself, you see, and, um… What you did for me was incredible.” Beast looks back at the ground again, and Sora swears that underneath his brown fur he’s blushing. “No one has ever done anything like that for me before.”

Belle’s smile widens, becoming more open and genuine. “Well, I couldn’t let that creature harm you, Beast,” she says, one hand resting on his furry arm. “After all, I…” Now it’s her turn to look away, the blush actually showing against her cheeks. “You’re my friend.”

Beast looks at her and smiles, showing his too-large, too-sharp teeth and not even caring.

“But I just wish you would start treating _me_ like your friend!” the Princess of Heart admonishes suddenly, her mood changing in a blink. “That means trusting me, you know. Until you can do that… Well, you’ve got a _lot_ to learn still about treating others right!”

Beast’s face falls, and Belle turns away, arms folded against her chest. An awkward silence ensues.

“Oh, dear me!” Mrs. Potts exclaims from the vicinity of the floor. The suddenness of the interjection startles Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, who had not heard her, nor the rest of the castle’s servant entourage, come into the ballroom.

“I fear that the time may be running out!” Lumiere adds, sounding equal parts sad and afraid.

“Uh, what do you mean, ‘running out’?” Telary asks, one eyebrow quirked. “The time to do what?”

“That was the Enchantress’s stipulation for breaking the curse,” Cogsworth announces informingly. “You see, if the master can learn to love, and earn the love of another in return, then the spell will be broken.”

“Oh,” Sora says, looking over to the still awkwardly still pairing of beauty and beast. “But what’s the time limit?”

“You remember the rose?” Lumiere says.

“The thing in the jar?’ Azlyn asks. “Yeah, I remember. He only nearly knocked us through a wall to get to it.”

“That rose is very precious to the master,” Cogsworth elaborates. “Because you see, the spell’s parameter, learning to love and so on, must be fulfilled before the last petal falls from the rose. If not…” He doesn’t have to say it. The looks on the servants’ faces are enough.

“Wow,” Telary says, shaking his head sympathetically.

“Do you think…” Sora says, frowning across the room to Beast and Belle, “Do you think he’s gonna make it?”

Mrs. Potts smiles, affectionately nudging Chip beside her. “Oh, I think so” she confirms cheerily. “We all do.”

“I sure hope you’re right,” Azlyn chimes in sympathetically. “Although, y’know, Mrs. Potts the teapot, Cogsworth the clock, Lumiere the candle… That Enchantress knew her way around an irony.”

“That’s not actually what irony means…” Telary begins, before deciding not to waste the effort. “Yeah, she sure did.”

Suddenly, the Keyblade flashes into Sora’s hand entirely unbidden. Realizing what must be happening, the boy takes a step forward into the ballroom, holding the Keyblade before him. There’s a sudden rush of wind, and once again he returns to the swirling, cloudy heart of the world.

Above him floats the rose in its glass case. It emits a beam of light, revealing yet another glowing Keyhole.

Jumping back, Sora raises his blade and sends out a beam of his own, intersecting the Keyhole with a loud _click!_ There’s a bright light, and then all fades back into the ballroom.

“What was that?” Beast inquires, him and Belle approaching the offworlders. “What happened?”

“The gate is open,” Azlyn explains, though judging by the looks on Belle and Beast’s faces it isn’t much of an explanation.

“Basically, we have to get moving on,” Telary clarifies. “It was nice seeing you again, though. Good luck with, uh, everything.”

“Maybe try to cut down on the fighting, huh?” Sora suggests cheekily. “That’s no good for a growing, uh, _friendship_ , if you know what I mean.”

Apparently both of the pair do, though all they do in response is look away and blush.

“We’ll see to it that peace gets kept,” Mrs. Potts assures the trio.

“You are welcome back at any time, _mes amies_!” Lumiere makes known.

“Though perhaps next time, you might consider leaving less of a mess,” Cogsworth sighs, gesturing to the rubble pooled where possessed chandelier had met balcony. “I’d just gotten this room tied together the way I wanted…”


	9. Dead Zone

“Obviously something went wrong with the teleporter,” Telary reports, looking around with dismay at the dull, dreary tunnel the trio have found themselves in. “Or else Phil did some major remodeling.”

The trio are happy to discover that their journey has taken them back to Olympus Coliseum, world of gods and gladiatorial games. Unfortunately, this is hardly the same arena they remember.

“Maybe you just hit the wrong button,” Sora suggests easily, shrugging. “Don’t worry, though, I’m sure we’ll find our way out of here with no trouble…”

“Aaah!” the voice of an obviously troubled young woman cries out from behind the trio. Turning, they see the girl, dressed in a purple dress with brunette hair bound up in a ponytail that cascades down her back. She’s also perhaps the thinnest woman Sora has ever seen, minus her hips. She’s fleeing for her life.

Behind her run what appear to be a quartet of rotund but speedy magenta canines, barking excitedly as they chase their prey. Soon the Heartless symbols on the canine’s backs become clear.

The young woman lets out another yelp and trips, falling to her knees on the rocky cavern floor. Never one to let a damsel go distressed while he can help it, Sora rushes forward, summoning the Keyblade to his hand as he goes.

The Keyblade appears in its usual flash of light, but as soon as its existence solidifies, Sora can tell that something is wrong. The weapon is heavier than usual, feeling ungainly and odd in the boy’s hand.

Sora stumbles a bit as he fails to compensate for the extra weight, but the Heartless seem not to notice. At the first sight of the Keyblade, all four of them let out rumbling growls before springing back up the stone tunnel.

As the sounds of the Rabid Dogs’ retreat fade, Sora takes a moment to glare at the Keyblade, bouncing it gently in his hand. Yes, the weapon has certainly gotten heavier somehow. But why?

“Um, are you alright ma’am?” Telary asks, bringing the Keybearer back to the situation at hand. “Do you need a hand up, or…?”

“I got it Red, thanks much,” the no-longer endangered woman replies, something defensive and sardonic in her response. She stands, a bit shakily but otherwise stable. When she looks up, it’s with a raised eyebrow and frown. “And who are you three supposed to be?”

“The ones who just saved your life, lady!” Azlyn snarls, her arms crossed as she frowns at the ungrateful woman.

Sora is a bit miffed by the condescension as well, but shrugs it off in the name of politeness. “My name’s Sora,” the boy introduces himself. “These are my friends Azlyn and Telary.”

“I see,” the young woman says with a nod, still not looking impressed by the trio. “And just what are you three doing in the Underworld? As you can see, it’s a dangerous place.”

“We, uh, just got a little mixed up,” Telary explains sheepishly. “We’re actually looking for the coliseum. We’re friends of Hercules. The, uh, hero?”

The lady in pink nods at the statement. “Y’know, come to think of it I think Wonderboy _has_ mentioned you three.”

“I’ll bet he has!” Azlyn says proudly, beaming. “After all, we’re heroes just like him.”

“Well, actually,” Telary interjects sheepishly, “we’ve only made it as far as _junior_ heroes, Azlyn.”

The knight rolls her eyes at the wizard. “You didn’t have to mention that, you clod!”

“So, um, what’s your name?” Sora asks. “And how do you know Herc?”

“Name’s Megara,” the woman replies with a hint of a smile. “My friends call me Meg. And I’m Hercules’ wife.”

“Wife!” Sora blurts, dumbfounded. “Huh, Hercules never told us he was married. So how’s, uh, your husband doing anyway? Still a champion of the arena?”

Meg sighs, looking away momentarily before focusing on the trio once more. “It seems like all he _does_ is fight in that stupid coliseum anymore,” she explains forlornly. “Every day Hades sets up some new kind of challenge, and every day it gets harder for Herc to pull off a win.”

“That sure sounds like something that flame-headed jerk would come up with,” Azlyn notes with a scowl. Hades had caused no end of trouble for the trio last year, apparently collaborating with Maleficent.

“Wonderboy still fights, though. ‘A hero’s work is never done’ and all that. I actually came down here to see Hades myself,” Meg continues, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. “We’ve got a bit of a history, so I thought that if anyone could make a deal with him, it’d be me. Unfortunately I didn’t get very far before those creepy things attacked me.”

“The Heartless are bad news, Meg,” Sora informs the young woman. “Maybe you should let _us_ go talk to Hades.”

“You sure?” Meg asks, one and on her hip. “Like I said, me and Hades have a history, so…”

“We’ve got a little history with ol’ Hades too,” Azlyn interrupts. “A history of kicking his butt! I’ll bet we can give him the message just fine.”

“It really would be our pleasure,” Telary lies. Truthfully he’s even more terrified of wandering around the land of the dead than he was of Beast’s castle, but it’s obvious this is important to Megara, and Hercules as well. Surely the wizard can set aside his fear for that. “We wouldn’t want you to get hurt on your way to Hades. Or _by_ Hades.”

For a moment Meg just stares the trio down, looking from one to the other thoughtfully. After a bit of contemplation, she shrugs. “Eh, why not,” she says easily. “From what I remember of Wonderboy’s stories, you three can handle yourselves in a fight.”

“You don’t become heroes by collecting bottlecaps, Meg,” Azlyn says with a confident grin.

Meg smiles down at the knight. “And how exactly do you become a _junior_ hero, Blondie?”

Sora erupts into laughter as Azlyn lets out an offended noise. “Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Megara,” he says after he’s gotten himself back under control. “We’ll make sure your husband gets a day off, no problem.”

Meg nods. “One more thing, Sora,” she says, voice dropping in volume. “Could you maybe keep this whole ‘chat with Hades’ plan our little secret? Herc’s a great guy, and I love him, but he’s got kind of a complex about other people helping him.”

“No problem, Mrs. Megara,” Sora assures the woman with a nod. “We’ll keep it on the QT for you. Anything to help Herc out.”

Azlyn raises an eyebrow at the Keybearer. “And to keep him in top shape so you can have your rematch?”

“What?” Sora blurts defensively, looking away from his companion and rubbing his head awkwardly. “Well, I _guess_ that wouldn’t be so bad either.”

“Well, whatever your reasons, I’ll let you get to it,” Meg says, still eyeing the trio incredibly skeptically. “Wonderboy’s got another match in a few, and I promised him I’d be there to watch.”

“Go on ahead, Meg,” Telary says assuringly. “We’ll see you at the coliseum later.”

“Sure thing, Red,” Meg says, snapping off an ironic salute before taking off. “Good luck out there, kiddos!” She saunters away, hips swaying with every step.

“Ugh, can you believe her?” Azlyn says as soon as she’s sure Herc’s wife is out of earshot. “We’re doing her a big favor and she doesn’t even thank us? _And_ she called us ‘kiddos’! What does Hercules see in _her_?”

Telary shrugs. “Opposites attract, I guess.”

“Whatever,” Sora says dismissively, already moving down the tunnel. “Can we just get on with this? The sooner we deal with Hades, the sooner we can see Herc again. And get that rematch!”

The trek through the dark, dank tunnels of the Underworld proves much less harrowing than any of the trio had imagined. Expecting ghosts and Heartless and maybe worse around every corner, after about ten minutes of more-or-less silently trekking through the land of the dead they actually start to get a little bored.

“Where do you think those Heartless that attacked Meg went?” Azlyn asks, looking lazily around for anything to fight.

Sora shrugs. “I think we scared them off pretty good. Maybe they told all their friends to watch out.”

Azlyn’s frown deepens. “Yeah, I guess,” she relents with a heavy sigh. “Still, it would be nice to have something to do. Heck, I’d even take one of those Organization goons.”

Just then, of course, a man rushes past, clad in the signature all-black cloak of an Organization XIII Nobody, hood raised. The man is thinner than Xaldin, even a touch more trim than the member encountered in the Land of Dragons.

“Hey!” Sora calls out, but the cloaked Nobody pays him no mind, simply continues on his way down the passage. Sora turns to his friends. “I wonder where he’s going?”

“Nowhere good, I’ll bet,” Azlyn suggests, already raring to take off after the creature. “C’mon, let’s follow him!” Without awaiting any further word on the subject, the knight takes off at a sprint. Not wishing to be left behind, the boys fall in behind her momentarily.

“Do you think the Organization is working with Hades?” Sora asks Telary, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice. The god of the Underworld is bad enough on his own, never mind with the power of the Nobodies backing him up!

“I hope not,” Telary replies.

The chase continues for another minute, and eventually Sora and Telary manage to catch up to Azlyn, leaning up against a rock at a three-way fork in the tunnel system. She’s clearly relying heavily on the rock for support, and her breath seems to come in labored spurts. She sees her companions immediately, but it takes a bit for her to speak up.

“I didn’t see which way he went,” she says, still struggling a bit. Sora and Telary seem to have caught her exhaustion, both drooping as heavily as they breathe. “And I didn’t want to follow him one way without you guys to back me up, so I stopped.”

“Good tactical decision, Az,” Telary congratulates his counterpart through intakes of breath.

“What is _wrong_ with us?” the knight says with a deep scowl. “I mean, I feel like I just ran two marathons, but we couldn’t have chased that guy more than a mile.”

“Something weird is definitely going on,” Sora speaks up. “Earlier, when I summoned the Keyblade to fight those Heartless attacking Meg, it felt weird. Like it was extra-heavy or something. I’ve barely ever noticed its weight before.”

“Something’s definitely up,” Telary agrees with a frown. “I can’t explain it, but somehow even my magic feels weaker.” He pauses, thinks for a moment, then raises one finger. “Thunder!”

A small bolt of lightning, a spark barely longer than Sora’s forearm, zaps briefly through the air in front of the wizard before dissipating completely. Hardly impressive when compared to his usual feats.

“Yikes,” Azlyn comments. “If none of us are in top shape, even I get worried about how we’d do against Hades or that Nobody.”

“We don’t even know what kind of powers Organization XIII guys have,” Sora points out. “For all we know, that Nobody could pull something at us out of _nowhere_ …”

There’s a sudden clatter of heavy boots knocking against stone, along with a litany of small, fearful noises coming from the leftmost of the three tunnels ahead. Turning, the trio see the same cloaked man from the Organization running up the tunnel at top speed, arms and legs pumping.

He reaches them fast, far too quickly for any of them to even think about drawing a weapon in their compromised states. Luckily, he keeps running, barely even paying attention to the trio as he rushes past.

“Run!” He yells as he goes, voice reedy and terrified as he retreats from whatever is behind him. “Run away while you can, it’s _horrible_!” He continues on until he rounds the bend out of sight.

For a solid minute none of the trio do or say anything, merely stare after the Nobody’s retreat with looks of surprise.

“So,” Telary says after the silence has lasted too long, “I guess we know which tunnel we _aren’t_ going down, huh?”

**KH-KH-KH**

Perhaps the best thing about being God of the Underworld and overseer of all deceased souls, Hades thinks, is the view. From the large picture window stretching across one wall of his throne room. Hades can stand and survey the entirety of the most important part of his underground domain: the Well of Souls.

The ectoplasm green lake of lost souls swirls beneath his gaze as it ever does, hundreds of thousands of newly dead souls from worlds over caught in its current, slowly drifting out towards the dead lake where they would be spending eternity. It can’t be very relaxing for _them_ , of course, but Hades finds the repetitive motion, as well as the notion of tortured souls trapped forever in his realm, incredibly soothing.

“Oooh, that one had ta hurt!” chuckles his guest, the rotund Pete. Hades turns to see Maleficent’s minion standing over the scrying pool, watching with fascination as Hercules faces down the latest nasty creature Hades has sent his way.

Turning away from his view, he steps up beside Pete and fixes his eyes on the scene playing out in real-time in the coliseum above. Hercules, apparently having just taken a swipe from the ferocious Nemean lion, stumbles back, nursing his shoulder where three red marks well with blood. He’s dressed in his usual tunic and short blue cape, red hair kept out his eyes with a sweatband that he’ll no doubt toss to the appreciative crowd when he wins the match.

Or, _if_ he wins the match. If would be good.

Hades smiles at the sight of Jerkules’ blood beginning to flow, but reminds himself that his nephew has been on the ropes before, and come back to win it. It’s probably the most annoying thing about him.

“Where’d ya get this beasty, huh Hades?” Pete asks, still leering at the fight. “It’s one tough customer.”

The lord of the dead shrugs. “I know a guy, owns a family business selling exotic pets,” he says easily, gritting his sharp teeth as Hercules dodges another attack. “He owed me for getting his brother out of a jam with a rather angry leopard. So, I got a scary lion and he got two years off his servitude.”

In the pool, Hercules ducks under another paw swing, then lashes out a punch powered by his superior strength into the lion’s belly, the softest part of it. The creature roars and stumbles back, only to receive a follow-up blow to the knee that sends it sprawling.

With a loud grunt of challenge, Hercules jumps up and locks the lion’s head in his powerful arms. A struggle ensues that lasts no more than ten seconds, and then Hercules pulls up with a powerful jerk.

There’s a loud crack, and when the demigod lets go the Nemean lion drops to the dusty coliseum ground, lifeless. There’s a pregnant pause as the coliseum crowd takes in the dead animal at their favorite champion’s feet, and it lasts but a second before more cheers erupt from the stands.

Pete, his grin wiped clean off his face in a nanosecond, looks nervously up at Hades, slowly backing away. The god of the Underworld looks calm now, but if what Maleficent has told him of the flame-haired being is true…

“Huh,” Hades says, so smooth and casual you’d think he didn’t care one iota. That calm lasts only a fractional second, however, before Hades’ blue skin turns an angry red, the crackling flames atop his head in place of hair changing color to match. The god screams, a stream of red-hot fire shooting from his mouth for nearly ten consecutive seconds.

The flames shut off abruptly, like water from a turned-off faucet, and Hades’ skin and hair return to their normal blue hue. He turns to Pete, who is cowering in the corner with Pain and Panic, the god of the dead’s most loyal servants.

“Well, whaddya know?” he sighs, his tone suddenly only lightly exasperated. Hades shakes his head, the flames flickering. “I guess you get what ya pay for, eh?”

Pete pushes away Pain and Panic, steps up to Hades with his hands on his hips. “Yeah, I s’pose ya do indeed,” he says, going for nonchalance and not quite making it convincing. “So, what’s next? About Hercules I mean. The guy’s taken down everything ya sent at him. The ice monster, the chimera, that guy wit’ the four arms…”

“Thanks, I remember,” Hades cuts the fat cat off abruptly, sinking into his throne and steepling his fingers as he gives the matter some thought. “I just need to think of a new angle, y’know? One that’ll really give me the edge…”

Pete snorts and crosses his arms. “Y’know somethin’, Hades,” he says, chuckling along with every word, “ol’ Herc’s been giving your guys such grief that, heh heh, you might as well just send along somebody who’s already dead! It’d save a lotta time on the commute, I reckon!”

For the briefest moment, Hades almost gets angry. What right does this brainless minion have to criticize a god’s choices? It’s not like Hades has even committed to Maleficent’s new little alliance anyway, not after the crapshoot the first one turned out to be.

But, thinking about Pete’s comment, he can’t help but actually feel a spark of inspiration. In that moment Hades suddenly truly believes the old adage about a broken sundial’s chances of having the correct time.

“Dead, of course!” he exclaims, curling his bony fingers into a triumphant fist. “Why didn’t I think of it before? After all, I got all the stock I could ever want right here in my own backyard!”

The god stands, begins to pace and scratch his chin, thinking through the possibilities before him. After all, it isn’t like he’s not spoiled for choice here! It takes only a minute to decide that for this particular operation, there’s only one place to look: The Underworld’s deepest, darkest dungeon, home only to the baddest of the bad. Surely Hades can find someone in that place willing to kill a great hero. The mother of all bad guys.

Everything’s coming up Hades!

**KH-KH-KH**

After what seems like a long walk, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary sneak through a crack in the Underworld wall, finding themselves in a vast space. Beyond the small cliff they stand on is a stone pathway leading to a large, skull-shaped structure up ahead. Hades’ stronghold, no doubt.

“Really?” Azlyn remarks upon seeing the looming fortress. “A giant skull? I tell ya, this guy must be compensating for quite a…”

Sora and Telary barely hear the knight, moving forward instead to peer over the cliff’s edge to the green lake below.

“Oh, man,” Sora mutters under his breath as he regards the glowing liquid’s contents. Hundreds or maybe even thousands of humanoid forms, torsos clad in tunics that extend into wispy tails like that of Agrabah’s Genie. “Are those… People?”

Telary takes a second to calm his nerves, including his wildly chattering teeth. “I guess that makes sense,” he says, leaning heavily away from the cliff’s edge. The thought of falling and ending up trapped forever beneath those waters chills him to the very bone. “This _is_ the Underworld after all.”

“This place gives me the creeps like you wouldn’t believe,” Azlyn agrees, a rare admittance of fear. “It almost feels like that creepy End of Worlds place.”

Sora nods in agreement, tearing his gaze away from the horrifying pool below. Instead, his eyes rise to the skull-shaped fortress up the winding stone road.

“Let’s just go see Hades and tell him to lay off Herc,” the Keybearer suggests. “We’ve gotta help our friend before he gets himself hurt.”

“Y’know,” Azlyn comments as the trio begin to trek up to Hades hideaway, “most people do favors their friends like helping them move, or feeding their fish. _We_ have to brave the Underworld to negotiate with a god of death.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Pete stands as far away from Hades as possible, back pressed into the throne room’s stone wall. He watches as Hades’ hands twitch in complicated gestures, performing some kind of spell that the cat assumes will bring a warrior out of the depths of the Underworld.

Why exactly had he made that suggestion again?

Because, of course, Maleficent had ordered him to get the god on their side however he could. Initially Pete had thought force would be a good idea, and had subsequently flooded the Underworld with Heartless. That idea had died a particularly painful death when Hades pointed out that, as a god, he didn’t technically have a heart to steal.

Hades then declared that the only way he’d even consider rejoining the fold was if Hercules was killed _first_. He’d been screwed last year, he said, forced to give Maleficent’s work first priority. Now the god had declared the tables turned, and if Maleficent wanted his loyalty, she’d have to earn it.

Frankly, despite having his own desires to settle his score with the boat boy king, Pete thinks that maybe Hades has taken his desire for revenge a bit far.

A column of flame, the same eerie green color of the Well of Souls, rises suddenly from the ground in front of Hades, giving off a sickly light but no heat. The column burns for almost a full minute, then slowly fades away.

Once the flames are clear, a black-haired man dressed in a red robe stands before Hades. Pete judges him to a rather old fella, with a grizzled face, half-concealed by a high collar, that looks like it’s seen better days, especially the vertical scar across the man’s right eye. His left arm is oddly tucked into the robe’s front, almost as if he needs to use the garment as a sling. The free left sleeve flutters in the dim Underworld breeze.

“Hey, hi, how ya doin’?” Hades greets the newcomer, as casually as if he’d just walked in off the street for an interview. “Name’s Hades, and boy do I have an offer for you.”

“Oh, really,” the old man says, his voice as gritty and weathered as his skin. He does _not_ look impressed.

“Here’s the deal,” Hades explains, every bit the salesman making his big pitch. “You do a job for me, one measly job, and I let you go free from the Underworld. All you’ve gotta do…”

“I’m not all that interested in freedom,” the old man interrupts. Hades is so stunned by the odd insubordination that his mouth drops open comically. “I put myself in that dungeon for a reason.”

“You mean you locked _yourself_ in the deepest, darkest, worst kept pit in the entire Underworld?” Hades exclaims, confusion in his voice. “Dude, you’re even more badass than I thought! Oh, you’re gonna make Hercules…”

“I’m not going to do anything for you,” the old man declares defiantly. His free hand twitches, reaching into his robe. There’s a sharp sound of metal sliding against leather, and he pulls out a large, worn sword. Still scowling, he drops back into a battle stance, easily lifting his blade over his head. “You see, this is _my_ story. And you’re not part of it.”

Hades, never a big fan of being told _no_ , loses his cool. “ _Excuse me_? What did you just…? How could a…? Do you have any idea who it is that you are _speaking_ to right now? I am the _Lord_ of the _Dead_!”

The old man smirks. “Well, then I guess it’s no wonder that no one wants to die.”

Hades explodes upon hearing that, literally. His body and hair rage red once again, and an inferno rises up from the ground to surround him. Pete curses under his breath and stumbles back, only to trip over the also panicked Pain. With a loud yelp, the fat cat falls down on Hades’ imps, crushing both of them beneath his large behind. Crying out once more, Pete jumps to his feet and runs, taking refuge behind Hades’ throne.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary race into the throne room just in time to see Hades rush at the man in red, one hand raised to swat down the insolent undead. The old man barely seems to react, only raising his hand to block the blow.

“In case you were wondering,” Hades says into the old man’s face as the pair struggle against each other’s strength, “this means you’re fired.”

“Uh, did we miss something?” Azlyn asks her companions, both of whom just nod numbly.

Hades hears the knight, and looks up momentarily from his combat with the old man. It’s all the opportunity the man needs to break his sword free from Hades’ grip. With a grunt, he swings his blade into the god’s torso, knocking him back several feet.

Looking to capitalize on his momentary advantage, the old man charges forward and swings his blade once again. Hades has recovered his focus enough by now to effortlessly knock him aside, following it up with a fireball that scorches the old man’s torso and sends him to the ground, his sword dropped beside him.

The Lord of the Dead takes a step towards the old man’s prone form, but a sudden distraction whips by his head. The flying object misses completely, bouncing against the room’s back wall and falling to the floor. It clatters to a stop, revealing itself to be a Disney Castle shield.

“I _missed_?” Azlyn blurts incredulously, looking from Hades to the wall to her shield in utter shock. “What gives, I _never_ miss?”

“Hey!” Hades exclaims smarmily, a red fireball forming in his hands, “neither do I!” With an amused cackle, he rears back and hurls the flaming projectile at the trio.

Sora steps in front of it, raising his Keyblade high to block, despite the odd increase in its weight. The fireball bounces off the blade and flies out the chamber’s picture window. Beside the Keybearer, Telary draws his staff.

“Hades, I need to have a talk with you!” Sora tells the god, who merely raises an eyebrow at the words.

“Sorry kid,” Hades mock apologizes, already forming new fireballs, “but my visiting hours finished like… Okay, so I don’t actually _have_ any visiting hours, I hate guests, but the point is…”

Both of the fireballs in Hades’ hands shoot toward the trio. All three adventurers yelp and dodge away, none of them landing gracefully on the chamber floor. Azlyn rises and charges Hades, only for him to sidestep and let her go hurtling into the wall.

Sora stands next, picking the Keyblade off the ground beside him and lunging for the God of the Underworld. His swing seems to land against Hades’ torso, but there’s a sudden noise like a bass drum being struck and the weapon only bounces harmlessly off the god’s skin. Frowning, the boy tries again, only to meet with the same results.

“Go on ahead, kid, give me all you got,” Hades says smugly, actually patting Sora on the head in a cruel parody of affection. “But I gotta warn ya, when you’re on my turf, you ain’t go much.” Casually, the god reaches up and closes his hand around Azlyn’s wrist. With an effortless twitch of his wrist, Hades throws her back across the room. “See, in the Underworld, _heroes_ are _zeroes_ , capiche?” He flicks Sora once on the forehead, knocking the Keybearer back to his companions.

“Seems like talking is out of the question here, huh?” Telary sheepishly asks the flame-haired god.

“Oh, yeah,” Hades agrees, preparing another fireball, this one at least twice as potent as his last few. No more messing around for him.

His cockiness, however, proves to be a weakness rather than a strength, as the thought down-for-the-count old man springs up, slashing his blade clean through Hades’ wrist.

Hades lets out an actual scream, his hand dissolving into black smoke as the fireball he’d prepared loses all cohesion.

“Woah,” Sora comments.

The old man turns and begins to move for the chamber’s exit. “Run!”

Taking his advice, the trio book it down the stairway back to the Well of Souls. As soon as everyone is out, Azlyn and Sora work together to slam the double doors shut. Letting out a relieved sigh, Sora leans back against the stone doorframe.

The Keybearer turns to the red-robed man and says appreciatively, “Man, you really got him back there!”

“Did he though?” Hades’ smug voice suddenly says. Turning, Sora sees the god lounging casually against the wall next to him. His arms are crossed smoothly across his chest, and both blue-skinned hands are present at their ends. “Did he _really_?”

The trio all let out surprised screams, backing away from the nonchalant-seeming Lord of the Underworld. The old man barely reacts, just returns to his combat-ready position.

“Really?” Hades sighs, looking the old man up and down. “Y’know something, this… This isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.” With an almost sad shake of his head, the God of Death disappears in a cloud of smoke.

For a moment, the trio say nothing, nor move an inch. The old man is the only one to actually react, returning his large sword to his belt sheath.

“So that’s it?” Azlyn says, looking all around for any other threat to emerge. “He’s just going to let us go?”

“I doubt it,” the old man says brusquely, turning to face the offworlders. “But do you really want to stand around here and wait for him to spring a trap?”

“Yeah, I’ll take a pass on that one,” Telary says, turning and beginning to make his way down the winding path, resolutely not looking at the swirling lake below. Azlyn frowns, disappointed to miss a fight, but after a moment she turns and follows her counterpart.

“You were, um, really cool there,” Sora tells the old man, the pair bringing up the rear of the group’s slow retreat. “You fought Hades like he was just some guy, not a… Well, anyway, are you some kind of hero?”

For a long stretch of moments the old man says nothing, merely takes even strides down the stone road above the Well of Souls.

“I’m no hero,” he says smoothly, his eyes fixed forward. There’s something sad about the old man that makes Sora feel a bit pitying. “I’m just an…”

There’s a long, rather heavy pause, and Sora waits it out with his head tilted, confused expression across his face.

“Auron,” the old man says, without a tinge of emotion behind the word at all.

By now the group has reached the tunnel system once more, the green glow emanating from the crack in the wall behind them the only reminder of the Well of Souls. The cavern they’re in is pretty roomy by Underworld standards, but still barely sixty square feet in total.

“What’s an Auron?” Sora inquires, and Azlyn and Telary lean in to hear the answer as well.

“That’s my name,” the man in red answers plainly.

“Oh, okay. My name’s Sora.”

“Azlyn.”

“Telary.”

“Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Auron says, nodding to each member of the trio as he says their name. “It’s certainly interesting to meet a bunch of kids like you in the Underworld, of all places. Maybe Fate brought us together, hm?” He purses his lips for a moment, seeming to think intently about what he says next. “Perhaps you… need a Guardian.”

Azlyn makes a face. “Guardian? Thanks but no thanks pal. We’re doing just fine without one for the moment.”

“Yeah, we can handle ourselves alright,” Sora agrees with his companion. “I mean, we’ve been having kind of an off day, but…”

“Say no more,” Auron interrupts gently. A small, barely noticeable smile play across his lips for the briefest of moments. “It was only a suggestion. Now c’mon, let’s get out of here before Hades’ surprise shows up.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Hades leans back in his throne room sipping almost cheerily at a neon pink drink in his hand. Pete, recovered now from the shock of the battle, sits across from the god in an almost comically tiny chair.

“So, uh,” Pete stammers nervously, twiddling his thumbs nervously, “why’d you just let ‘em go, eh? ‘Cause y’know, I got Heartless crawling all around the Underworld, and I could…”

Hades shoots a glare at the fat cat, and he wisely takes that as a cue to shut his mouth. Nervously, Pete turns away.

“This is _my_ Underworld, bub,” Hades declares icily, throwing his glass to the ground and letting it break with a loud crash. In moments, Pain and Panic sweep up the fragments. “And as such, how _I_ deal with intruders to _my_ realm and dissidents who don’t follow _my_ orders, is up to _me_ , not your stupid Heartless.”

“Well, it’s just that you, uh, ya just let ‘em go scot free and, um…”

“Well, of course you’d think that, you pea-brained waste of space, oxygen, and various other resources,” Hades quips so cruelly that Pete’s upper lip actually begins to quiver. “Because you have no _imagination_.”

Hades rises, and slowly moves to stand by the picture window. “Sure, I could’ve smoked those losers like shrimps on a barbie. It’d barely take a second thought, to tell the truth. But that would’ve been too easy, you see. Not nearly satisfying enough for my tastes. And do you know _why_?”

“Uh, no…” Pete replies cautiously. Out of the corner of his eye, the disgraced captain notices Pain and Panic looking at him almost giddily. He figures it must be real nice for them, to see somebody else have to take the brunt of their boss’s abuse.

“Because, my big-boned friend, by letting them escape, I’m giving them a little bit of hope,” the god explains, smiling smugly at something in the distance. Faintly, loud crashes can be heard somewhere out in the Underworld, getting closer by the second. “Y’see, the best kind of despair is the kind that comes after your enemy is confident that he has a chance, that a happy ending is but a hop, skip, and a jump away. So, yeah, I let them escape my main stronghold. Heck, I’ll let ‘em reach the cavern’s exit. But I’m afraid that for them, there _is_ no exit.”

The loud crashes finally cease, and for a moment a calm quiet settles over the room. Mere seconds later, there’s one last loud impact, hard enough to shake Pete off his seat.

He looks up to the chamber window, and what he sees there nearly causes a mess in his overalls. A huge black dog, three vicious heads full of razor sharp teeth, looms there, panting breathily, bloodlust in all six of its eyes.

“Cerberus, Pete,” Hades introduces the pair casually. “Pete, Cerberus.” All three heads growl at Pete, each knowing big, juicy, frightened cat when they smell one. “Cerberus, buddy… Fetch!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Their trek through the Underworld takes longer than any of the members of the fleeing party would like, but with the effects of the dark realm draining their energy, periodic rest stops are a requirement.

Finally the group arrives in a huge round chamber, easily the most spacious area they’ve encountered yet, excepting the Lake of Souls. At the far end is a massive door, closed tight and separated down the middle by a jagged line. Azlyn takes one end, Sora and Telary the other, but despite their best efforts they cannot make the entrance budge even an inch.

“Ahem,” Auron says firmly, drawing the trio’s attention back to him. With a low grunt, the old man tilts his head up towards the door’s top.

Backing up and looking at the spot, the trio see what Auron is “talking” about: heavy, rusted but apparently still strong chains cover the higher reaches of the door, sealing it tight.

Fortunately, all of the chains seem to be bound up in a large padlock, with a keyhole nearly the size of Azlyn. Grinning confidently, Sora summons the Keyblade to his hand. Still not prepared for the weapon’s new weight, the boy sags for a moment before uprighting himself.

“Can that open it?” Auron asks, apparently hardly fazed by a giant key appearing from thin air.

“Sure can!” Sora replies confidently. With a grunt the boy attempts to raise his arm and point the key’s tip to the lock, but once again the Underworld’s evil spell thwarts him. Gritting his teeth, he takes the blade’s hilt in both hands and heaves, managing to get the Keyblade to the appropriate height. With a slight effort of will, he summons a beam of light that flies straight and true into the padlock. With a loud click, it falls open, the chains’ grip on the door loosening.

Azlyn and Telary once again push the sides apart, and this time they slide easily away, revealing a vast chamber beyond.

There’s a sense of relief for at best half a second, before Cerberus, three-headed guardian of the Underworld, leaps out of the narrow tunnel and into the vast atrium. The appearance and impact of its jump are so sudden and startling that Sora, Azlyn, and Telary seem to just stall, brains having trouble computing the scene.

Auron, however, allows himself no such terror. Gritting his teeth once more, the man in red leaps for the hellhound, sword drawn high into the air. He crashes into the guard dog, bashing its left head with a quick strike and eliciting a howl of anguish and pain.

“Go!” he commands, backing up quickly as Cerberus’s center and right head snap out in retaliation. The old man slashes twice more, driving the beast back a step. “Quickly, before it’s too late!”

“Sora, c’mon!” Telary encourages. The Keybearer turns to see that the wizard and Azlyn have already retreated to the safety on the other side of the door.

“Let’s go!” Azlyn urges. “I’m the last one to wanna run away, but with that Underworld curse, there’s no way we’re anything but dog chow!”

Sora looks from his friends to Auron, biting his lip nervously as he contemplates a course of action. After a moment, he hangs his head and rushes after his companions to safety. He knows it might be the wrong choice, but…

Suddenly there’s a howl behind the Keybearer that sounds awfully victorious. Hesitating, Sora turns to see that the beast has drawn blood, Auron backing away with his free arm nigh limp. Sensing a kill, Cerberus moves in, the two side heads prepared to strike…

Instead of the wounded Auron, the canine jaws meet the cursed but determined Sora, who rushes in and blocks the beast’s bites with his body, holding the heads apart by sheer determination, Keyblade in hand.

Miffed, the center head rises to strike, but something in Sora seems to be blocking out the Underworld malady, giving him enough time to raise the Keyblade. The center head’s jaws snap around it, but the mystical metal holds, trapping the mouth open like a jammed door.

Grunting mightily, Sora grabs the key’s shaft and pulls himself up, prying the Keyblade from Cerberus’s jaws just fast enough to avoid the clamping teeth. Now standing precariously atop the center head, only fast reaction times save him from the snapping jaws of the left head, then the right, then center once more.

Cerberus roars and tosses the head Sora is standing on back, actually propelling the Keybearer high into the air. Eyes narrowed, Sora searches for the last vestiges of energy in his weakened body, and the Keyblade’s tip actually begins to glow with a soft light. With a roar of his own, the boy swings his blade down, crashing directly into the three-headed beast’s center forehead.

Cerberus barely makes a yelp as he crashes limply to the atrium floor, dazed as all get out. Sora lands as well, but can’t avoid turning his right ankle at impact.

The boy nearly falls, but finds Auron there to catch him. Without a word, the man in red begins practically dragging the Keybearer back to the exit, where Azlyn and Telary watch with nervous concern.

Auron barely makes it across the threshold before Cerberus begins to stir once more, heads perking up and locking his gazes onto his nearly escaped prey. Growling, the beast rises, striding forward with mighty leaps and bounds.

The doors oddly begin to close automatically as the hellhound approaches, and the trio can only watch as Cerberus grows ever closer.

Not that they seem concerned, making silly faces at the terrible beast that rushes forward to devour them body and soul. Just as the guard dog seems to be about to close the gap, the doors slam shut. There’s a loud noise of impact, and then silence.

“Well,” Azlyn says, as easily as she hadn’t just barely escaped death’s domain with her life and body intact, “that wasn’t exactly a productive conversation, huh?”

“No, it wasn’t,” Sora grumbles, sitting on the cavern floor and holding his wounded ankle. Beside him, Telary examines the injury.

“It isn’t too bad,” the wizard assures his young friend. “But all things considered, I’ll wait until we’re out of the curse before trying to magic it.”

“I’ll tell you what, guys, we couldn’t have done it without… Auron?” Sora turns and looks for the enigmatic man in red that had saved their lives twice over, only to find that he is nowhere to be found.

The trio now find themselves in a huge underground cavern. Before them is a vast lake, though the water is purple and murky, which is actually a significant improvement over green, glowing, and full of trapped souls. The solid stone of the place is set in a kind of Y-shape, leading to a circular spit in the middle. Opposite their emergence point as another sliding door, and the bottom of the Y leads to a staircase, a light emanating from an open door at the top.

“Where’d he go?” Azlyn asks, looking all around for the mysterious stranger. “And, come to think of it, where’d he _come_ from?”

“Well, wherever he went, and wherever he was from, I’m just glad he turned out to be on our side,” Telary says. “Without him we’d be toast.”

“Yeah, he was worth like two of me down here with that curse in effect,” Sora agrees. Pausing a moment, he recalls Hades’ comment about the Underworld curse turning “heroes” into “zeros”. If Auron hadn’t been affected by the curse, could that mean…?

Sora moves his ankle and feels a sharp burst of pain, pulling him out of mostly meaningless contemplation and back into the real Underworld.

“Let’s get you topside, Sora,” Telary says caringly. Getting an arm under the Keybearer, he lifts him to his feet, carefully letting the boy put pressure on him instead of the hurt ankle. “I’ll bet you anything that light at the top of the staircase is our ticket out.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Well, _c’est la morte_ ,” Hades sighs, watching from the window as Cerberus slinks back to his den, a hitch in his four-legged stride.

“You seem awfully calm, considering your big ‘make ‘em despair’ play went all belly up,” Pete comments huffily.

Hades sighs, sinking back into his throne. “True, they got away, which is bad. But the good news is that this whole affair jogged my memory as to just what ol’ Mal said that brat’s Keyblade can do.”

“Oh really,” Pete replies. “So, uh, what is it exactly that you need unlocking?”

“I am very glad you asked that Petey boy!” Sighing, Hades lays his chin on one hand, eyes drifting into the ether nostalgically. “Y’know that coliseum Wonderbreath fights in up topside? Well, a few years ago I got myself a look at the profit margins on that sucker, and lemme tell ya, that ol’ goat cleans up quite nicely.

“So, anyway, I said to Myself ‘Hades, don’t you want a piece of that sweet action, all for your very own?’. Well, naturally Myself answered ‘Yes”, so I went ahead and made my _own_ coliseum, right here in the Underworld. And for a while it was glorious! Fights like you’ve never seen before, making Goody-Two-Shoes stadium up there look like an Olympic kiddie pool.”

“That sounds perfect!” Pete agrees, banging his gloved fist on the table before him. “ _That_ ’s where we need to end Herc the Jerk’s winning streak!”

“Couldn’t agree with you more, _mi compadre_ ,” Hades says, rising and moving once again to the chamber window. Reaching it, he places both hands on the frame and sighs, an almost delicate sound. “Unfortunately, my brother Zeus didn’t quite see the appeal of a free-for-all bloodbath, especially one that wasn’t givin’ all the glory up to him, so he shut it down.” The god shakes his head. “Locked it up tight. But with that Keyblade…”

Pete makes a disappointed noise, frowning as he realizes the flaw in the pair’s big plan. “That Keyblade is a bit of a particular sort, y’know. Probably won’t work for just any schmuk what tries it out.”

“So we’ll have to be clever here, eh?” Hades replies, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Okay, fine, I can do clever, that’s no problem. So…” Deep in thought, the Lord of the Dead slowly circles Pete. Finally, he stops. “Y’know something, Petey? I think this plan could use a woman’s touch, don’t you?”

Reaching into the folds of his toga, the god slowly pulls out a small statuette, no more than ten inches high. A statue of a slim young woman in a purple dress…


	10. Hell and High Water

The trio emerge from a small cave, the dim light of twilight greeting them. Though not as bright as full day, the change in illumination is still enough to leave everyone a bit disoriented.

The other thing that hits the world travelers is a sudden rush of pure energy, as the curse of the Underworld falls away and their normal strengths reassert themselves. Telary heals Sora’s ankle with a quick spell, and the group sets off for the Olympus Coliseum.

By the time they reach the vaunted arena, the sun has set completely, and the coliseum gates area is illuminated only by fires flickering in strategically set pits all around.

“Nobody here,” Azlyn comments, taking in the sight of the golden statues with swords held high flanking the door opposite, entrance to the coliseum’s lobby. “I guess they must have gone home for the night.”

“The door was unlocked,” Sora says almost dismissively, already striding across the sandy field to the entrance. “And besides, I doubt Phil ever even leaves the place.”

“I thought we were going to see Meg,” Telary says, he and Azlyn in step behind the Keybearer. “Tell her about Hades and all that.”

“We’ll see her eventually,” Sora assures the wizard, ignoring the face Azlyn makes at the mention of Meg’s name. “But hey, I wanna say hi to Phil too. He did a lot to help train us for the games, y’know. Which I won, in case you…”

“How could we forget?” Azlyn interrupts, shaking her head. “You won the Hercules Cup.” The knight smiles and pats at a pouch at her side, listening to the jangle of munny coins inside. “I got the prize munny though.”

Their discussion of times past is interrupted by the sudden opening of the lobby doors. Looking up, the trio see Hercules, demigod and undefeated champion of the coliseum, emerge. He doesn’t look terribly well, much less strong than any of the group remembers. In fact, it appears that the large man needs support, provided by Megara standing at his side.

When he sees the trio, however, Herc suddenly seems to perk up. Meg lets go of his arm and he steps forward, back straightening as his mouth stretches into a genuine smile.

“Sora, Azlyn, Telary!” the big man exclaims, stepping brightly down steps to the field. “Oh man, it is so good to see you guys again! How’ve you been?”

Sora shrugs. “Well, y’know,” he answers nonchalantly, “fighting Heartless, looking for our friends. Your basic adventures.”

Herc shakes his head, extending his arm for a greeting hand slap that Sora happily reciprocates. “Man, I forgot how much work it is to be a junior hero.”

“I’d prefer you just forgot the ‘junior’ part altogether,” Azlyn comments, receiving her own hand slap from the hero.

“Sorry, Azlyn, but you know that isn’t my call to make,” Hercules apologizes with a half-shrug. Suddenly, something seems to spark in the demigod’s mind, and he turns and gestures to Megara, who still stands at the top of the short entrance steps. “Oh, man, how could I forget to introduce you to my wife!”

For a second Meg looks obviously nervous, but she recovers quickly. “Oh hello, Hercules’ friends. Nice to meet you all, I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Hi there Meg…” Telary greets the woman, only to remember mid-word the stipulation that the trio’s visit to Hades be kept quiet. Quickly, he manages to come up with, “Mega-hottie.” Panicked, he looks to Hercules. “That’s uh, that’s a really nice looking wife you got there, Herc!”

Hercules looks taken aback, more than a little offended by Telary’s forwardness. And here the demigod had thought his fellow redhead a more reserved sort. “Um, thanks, Telary.”

“Please don’t hurt me,” the wizard pleads in a meek voice, stepping conspicuously behind Azlyn for protection.

“It really is nice to meet you all,” Meg says, stepping up beside her husband and taking his arm once more. She frowns. “You all look exhausted. Did you have a tough time getting here?”

“You could say that,” Sora confirms, letting out a deep sigh. “We actually ended up getting pretty… Lost. We wound up in the Underworld, and then of course we went to see Hades…”

“Why would you do that?” Hercules asks, one eyebrow quirking curiously. “Is Hades causing some kind of trouble?”

“We just thought he might have some information on our friends,” Telary lies, a much better conversational saving throw than his last.

“Still haven’t found ‘em, eh?”

“No, sadly not,” Sora sighs, thinking of Riku, how long it has been since they were together.

“Hades wasn’t exactly looking to chat,” Azlyn says. “And with that Underworld curse draining all of our strength, we weren’t able to get anything out of him the hard way either.”

“Oh, yeah, that’ll do it to you,” Herc agrees, nodding sympathetically. “But, hey, there might be something I can do to help you out with that.”

“We’ll take anything we can get,” Sora says.

“There’s an item called the Olympus Stone,” Herc explains. “It’s usually used by the gods whenever they have to go down into the Underworld. I’ve used it a time or two myself. It completely blocks out the curse, keeps heroes at full strength.”

“Could we use it?” Azlyn asks eagerly.

“If it isn’t too much trouble, of course,” Telary adds for the sake of politeness.

Hercules nods confidently. “I’m sure I can swing it,” he says, with a hint of the old swagger in his voice. “After all, my dad is a pretty important guy up there.”

“Ah, nepotism,” Azlyn sighs. “Where would we be without it?”

Telary raises an eyebrow at the knight. “You know the meaning of the word ‘nepotism’?”

Azlyn scoffs, playing up being offended by the suggestion. “Hey, if a word has to do with cash or special favors, I’m a complete dictionary!”

“Guys,” Sora admonishes his friends, who obligingly clam up. The Keybearer turns back to Hercules and says, “Thanks a lot, man. That’ll be really helpful.”

The hero shrugs. “I’ll probably have to wait until morning to go get it though,” he apologizes. “Most gods are pretty serious about their sleep cycles. There’s actually some spare rooms in the coliseum, so you could spend the night here if you wanted.”

“You sure that’d be okay with the billy goat, Wonderboy?” Meg asks her husband. There’s something nervous in her voice, and her eyes keep darting from Herc to the trio.

“It’ll be fine, babe,” Herc reassures his wife, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. She blushes.

“Yeah, Phil loves us!” Sora declares.

“Well,” a rough, boisterous voice declares suddenly, interrupting the conversation, “if it ain’t the most useless, lazy, good-fer-nothing excuses for junior heroes I ever met!”

Phil, a half-man, half-goat satyr about as high as Telary’s knee, stomps out of the lobby doors on his stubby hooved legs, grinning from ear to ear.

“Phil, you couldn’t train a bear to crap in the woods!” Azlyn shoots back, also grinning. For once, the knight’s insult is meant in good humor.

“Whatever you say, girlie.” The trainer of heroes stops in front of the junior heroes and give each a good once over before looking Sora straight in the eye. “So, you kids earned your ‘True Hero’ wings yet, or what?”

Sora shrugs. “Well, I mean, we did sorta save the universe from a mad scientist hell-bent on unleashing a flood of everlasting Darkness, closing a portal directly into a realm of absolute dark power at great personal cost. That count?”

Phil scratches his chin, thinking it over. After a minute, he shrugs, and all three sag in disappointment.

“Anyway, Phil,” Herc informs his mentor, “I just promised Sora I’d give him the Olympus Stone so he could see Hades in the Underworld, but that’ll have to wait until morning. Can they stay with you at the coliseum tonight?”

Phil settles back into contemplation mode, his chin getting another good scratching. “Eh,” he says after a bit, “why not?”

“Awesome!” Sora exclaims, smiling brightly.

Phil raises an eyebrow at the Keybearer. “Oh, you might not think this is all so awesome come tomorrow, pal. ‘Cause believe you me, you stay under _my_ roof, you live by _my_ rules, got it? And that means…”

**KH-KH-KH**

Training!

Sora can’t actually say when it was Phil had awakened the trio for a warm-up three mile jog, but it had been dark then, and now here the boy is, muddling his way through yet another barrel course with the sun high in the sky. A weight has been attached to his Keyblade, helping him to better compensate for the mass he knows the Underworld’s curse will add.

“Yo, Sora, what did I tell ya an hour ago?” Phil shouts, momentarily turning away from watching Azlyn do one-handed pushups. “I gotta hint for ya! One word: …”

Sora sighs, crushing another barrel with a Keyblade swing. “Knees up!” He realizes the counting error, but after a few dozen times he’s become numb to caring.

After a few more minutes of intense work, Phil actually has the grace to give Sora a ten minute break. Letting out an exasperated breath, and mentally thanking Yen Sid and the fairies for clothes that magically-resisted stench and stains, the boy collapses to the practice arena’s dusty floor.

He’s vaguely aware of Azlyn doing some sort of throwing accuracy test not far away, but he ignores it and closes his eyes, letting his mind drift back into a sea of pent-up adrenaline and tiredness…

_He’s sitting back against the cooled metal of the clock tower’s upper reaches, simply enjoying the sweet summer air that drifts over him. At this moment, in his special place, he is at peace…_

“Hey, Sora,” Telary’s voice calls. Slowly, Sora opens his eyes to see both the wizard and Azlyn looming over him. “Hi. Did you have a nice nap?”

Sora sits up, yawning. “Yeah, I guess so.” He shakes his head. “Man, I can’t believe I passed out like that!”

“I can,” Azlyn says agreeably, plopping down next to the Keybearer. “I’m used to training long hours starting early, and even I’m feeling pretty whipped by that mean ol’ goat’s boot camp.”

“Speaking of,” Sora says, looking around the empty arena for any sign of Phil, “where did he go?”

Telary shrugs. “He just left. Said he had some business to take care of.”

“I asked him what it was, but all he would say was it’s none of my business.”

The sound of leather scuffing against sand alerts the trio to the arrival of Hercules. The demigod looks almost as bad as he had when they’d initially seen him last night, sad and dejected.

“Uh, hey Herc,” Sora greets the hero, slowly getting to his feet. “What’s up?”

“Did you get us that stone?” Azlyn demands, rather insensitively.

Hercules sighs deeply. “Bad news on that front guys,” he informs the junior heroes. “It seems that the stone was stolen from Olympus yesterday.”

“Really?” Sora whines, shaking his head. “That is just our luck, huh?”

“I don’t know what to tell ya,” Hercules replies with a shrug. “All the gods know for sure is that the thief was a man dressed all in black.”

“Black, you say?” Telary repeats, thinking hard. “Was the guy wearing a hood, with a bunch of shadows inside so you couldn’t see his face?”

Herc nods. “That’s it exactly. And he had a bunch of accomplices dressed in white too. Hermes says they were all slithering around…”

“Do you think…?” Sora asks Azlyn.

“Must be,” the knight answers with a frown. Her fists clench. “Man do these guys get on my nerves!”

“I take it you know something about this thief, hm?” Herc deduces.

“Yeah, we do,” Sora answers with a sigh. Then, a thought strikes him. “Hey, Herc, what if _we_ went and caught the thief? Could we borrow the stone then?”

The hero nods. “Yeah, of course. I’d go with you guys, but if Hades’ pattern holds I’ll have another match today…”

“Is something wrong?” Telary asks the demigod. “I mean, not just with the Olympus Stone being stolen, but is there something else too?”

Herc hesitates, then lets out a deep sigh. “Yeah. It’s just that Meg was already gone when I left for Olympus this morning, and usually that is _not_ the case. She wasn’t anywhere in our house either. I’m just wondering if…”

“If your ladylove doth be in danger?”

A puff of thick grey smoke suddenly erupts in the middle of the sandy arena floor. As the smoke clears, Hades becomes visible inside it, smirking smugly.

“Hades!” Herc cries out, but there isn’t much in it. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be much in _Hercules_!

The Lord of the Dead winces and shakes his head. “Geez Louise, Wonderboob, you look a bit out of it today. Under the weather perhaps?”

Hercules scowls and rushes forward, unleashing a bullet-fast punch as he goes. Unfortunately the hero is too slow, and Hades poofs away from his previous position. He reappears not far from the trio.

“And slow to boot!” Hades sucks his teeth and shakes his head in mock disappointment. “And here I thought staying in top shape was one of the tent poles of the hero industry?”

“How would you know anything about heroes, Hades?” Azlyn spits out at the god, striding toward him with her shield out and ready to strike. “Look, we’ve got something to say to… Yaah!”

The knight barely makes it within a foot of Hades before he nonchalantly reaches out a single blue hand and flicks her on the nose, forcing back onto the ground.

“As it happens, sweetie, I’ve got a piece of my own to rap at the moment, dig?” Everyone in the arena pauses a moment to take in Hades’ odd word choices. The god sighs, eyes rolling. “This is what I get for trying to keep up with the kids. Sheesh!”

“Just get on with it, Hades!” Hercules demands.

“Well, my dear nephew, it seems that your sweet little Nutmeg has gone and gotten herself lost in the Underworld.”

“Yeah, sure,” Sora says dismissively, crossing his arms sternly. “I’ll bet you kidnapped her!”

Hades shrugs. “Well, I guess you could say that,” he admits, palms open in an ineffective appeasement gesture. “But, hey, why get caught up in details, hm? Bottom line is, she’s down there, and you’re up here.”

“Not for long, Hades!” Hercules boldly claims. Raising his fingers to his lips, the demigod lets out a long whistle. Within seconds, a white horse flies into the arena on wide, feathery wings. It lets out a rowdy neigh, then lands steadily beside his friend and master, wings folding into a rest position on his back. “C’mon, Pegasus, we’ve got to…”

“Not so fast, Wonderbreath,” Hades interrupts, smiling smugly and wagging a finger cautiously in Herc’s face. “If you go running after sweet little Meggiezord, you’ll miss your big match today. And boy, is your opponent a doozy!”

“Meg is way more important to me than some match!” Hercules says, narrowing his eyes angrily at his flame-haired uncle.

Hades shrugs, turns and walks away with his hands clasped behind his back. “If that’s the way ya feel, Herc, I guess I can’t stop you!” He pauses and turns back to the demigod, a menacing glint in his eye. “Just like _you_ won’t be able to stop today’s challenger: The bloodthirsty Hydra!”

Herc’s rage turns suddenly to fearful concern. “You mean…”

“Hey, you can do whatever you want, sport, I ain’t gonna stop ya!” The Lord of the Dead sucks at his teeth and shakes his head in mock disappointment. “But if you’re not here to handle the Hydra, well, who knows what kind of accidents could happen?”

“It’s not an accident if _you_ cause it, you blue-haired freak!” Azlyn points out, still angry about the earlier flicking.

“Well, it’s like I said, _details_ ,” Hades laughs off, shrugging easily. “All I’m saying is, without Herc to take on the Hydra, it’s bad news city!”

“I can’t believe you could be such a coward!” Sora angrily declares.

Another shrug from the god of the Underworld. “Well, kid, what can I say? We can’t all be heroes.” Before his statement even ends, Hades once again vanishes in a puff of smoke.

Hercules deflates completely, nearly collapsing to the ground before recovering. Sora, unsettled to see perhaps the physically strongest person he knows look so weak, approaches the demigod with a concerned smile.

“Are, uh, are you okay, Herc?” Sora asks, earning only a dejected sigh in return. “Look, I know things are bad, but you gotta…”

“Things are _bad_?” Herc lashes out, startling the entire trio with his sudden, uncharacteristic burst. “My wife is trapped in the Underworld by my worst enemy, a giant monster is coming this afternoon that’ll destroy the entire coliseum if I don’t fight it, and I can’t be in two places at once!”

Sora frowns. That is true, there’s only one Hercules…

“Hey, we can handle a rescue mission,” Azlyn pipes up, indignant at not being asked in the first place. “We probably have to go into the Underworld to get that Olympus Stone thief anyway. And besides, we’re heroes too!”

“Junior heroes, Azlyn,” Telary annoyingly reminds his counterpart. She glares at him heavily.

“Azlyn’s right, Herc,” Sora assures the demigod, who looks at least willing to consider the plan. “You handle the Hydra up here, man. We’ve got the Underworld covered.”

Herc still looks hesitant, but after a moment he nods. Standing up, the demigod walks over to his trusty steed, petting at the stallion’s neck. “Pegasus, you take Sora and his friends to the Underworld entrance, okay? Help them find Meg.” Letting out a loyal whinny, the winged horse nods once more.

“Wait a second!” Azlyn interrupts, eyeing Pegasus warily. “You don’t mean we have to ride that thing?”

Sora rolls his eyes and steps forward, patting Pegasus on the neck just as Hercules had. The steed seems to warm up to the Keybearer immediately, nuzzling at his face affectionately. “Would you stop being such a baby, Az? It’s perfectly safe.”

“He does seem to be a sweetheart,” Telary agrees, petting Pegasus’s soft flank.

Azlyn approaches him cautiously with one hand held out. Sensing her discomfort, Pegasus gives it a soft, affectionate lick. Unfortunately this has a less than calming effect, and the knight grimaces as she wipes her hand off against her jacket.

Despite the dread one of them feels, mounting up on Pegasus’s back goes smoothly for the trio.

“Good luck, Hercules!” Sora calls out encouragingly to the demigod. Herc returns smiles back at the Keybearer, going for a confident look but not succeeding. It’s clear the hero wishes that he could join the rescue attempt.

With a determined, yet oddly cheery, whinny, Pegasus trots a few feet and flaps his wings mightily, taking to the skies above the coliseum. Azlyn yelps at the sudden acceleration, squeezing her arms tight around Sora’s torso in front of her. The Keybearer lets out a pained cry as the pressure against his abdomen increases to uncomfortable levels. Telary, uncomfortable with his companions’ pain, wraps his own arms gently around Azlyn’s torso. After a moment, the knight seems to calm, letting up the harmful pressure on Sora.

The flight doesn’t last long, and soon Pegasus is zipping through the cave entrance to the Underworld’s depths. They alight within the large lake cavern, immediately feeling the effects of the curse drain a portion of their strength and resolve.

“Hold on, Pegasus!” Sora cries out suddenly, digging his heels into the airborne stallion. Looking down, he sees the unmistakable form of Phil, sitting on the floor of the cavern looking dazed. “Land here, please.”

Pegasus obliges, alighting easily next to the prone form of Philoctetes. The trio dismount quickly, and with the exception of Azlyn it goes smoothly. The knight momentarily crashes to the ground, but pops back up like a daisy in sunlight.

Sora kneels next to Phil, giving the oddly wet satyr a gentle nudge. He groans and sits up, rubbing at his back with a wince.

“Sora?” the trainer says, a bit groggily. “And Sora, and Sora? Why are there three of you?”

“Um, there’s not Phil,” Sora corrects him gently. “I guess you took a pretty good bump to the head.”

“Or suddenly grew a new horn,” Azlyn adds, grimacing at the huge knot in the center of Phil’s forehead.

“What happened?” Telary inquires, wishing the curse wasn’t draining his magic. If he could, he’d heal Phil instantly with a quick Cure spell. “Did Hades do this?”

“No, no,” Phil answers, shaking his head. It seems the half-goat is finally regaining his senses. “It was a guy all dressed in black. He had a hood on, so I couldn’t see his face. I tried to follow him, but he spotted me.”

“And shot you with a water cannon?” Azlyn asks, taking in the satyr’s soaked fur.

“I dunno how he did it. Can’t remember.”

“Well it sounds like you found the guy who stole the Olympus Stone,” Sora says, frowning at the thought of the Organization causing trouble for more of his friends. “Did you see which way he went?”

“Um, that way I think,” Phil says, pointing across the stone path to the door opposite the one the trio had emerged from during their last Underworld visit. “Man, was he good. I wonder if he’d have any interest in the games…”

“Phil, he’s a thief,” Telary points out. “Probably wanted by the gods for taking their stone. I don’t think he’s the kind of guy you’d want in your arena.”

“He let the Heartless fight,” Sora points out.

Phil shrugs defensively. “Hey, I’m a very busy trainer! Do you know how much time a thorough background check takes?”

“So, what were you doing in the Underworld in the first place, Phil?” Azlyn asks, something accusatory in her tone. “I assume this is what you meant by ‘none of my business’.”

“Oh, that,” the satyr sighs, standing up and attempting to wipe off the remaining droplets of moisture from his arms and legs. “I came down here looking for a backup hero. Y’know, in case Herc ever wants to take a break. I figured I might find some do-gooder type wandering around looking for a fight in the Underworld.”

“You came here looking for a hero?” Sora repeats incredulously. “Um, why didn’t you just ask us, Phil?”

The satyr looks up at the Keybearer, mouth agape. “Oh, you know somebody?”

Azlyn slaps her hand against her forehead, and Sora frowns down at the hero trainer. Reaching out his hand, the boy summons the Keyblade for emphasis.

Phil looks at the blade for a second, then lets out a snort. “Oh, right. Good one, Sora!”

Azlyn growls and grabs Sora’s wrist, dragging him toward the tunnels. “C’mon, we’re just wasting time here. We’ve got a thief to catch and a damsel to undistress.”

“Good luck, kiddos!” Phil calls after the departing trio. Turning away, he mutters under his breath, “You’re gonna need it.”

Through the sliding doorway, the trio and Pegasus enter a large chamber with a mist covered floor, the fog so heavy that the ground can’t even be seen through its veil. Azlyn, looking to rid herself of the oppressive feeling of the Underworld curse by finding the Olympus Stone thief as soon as possible, confidently strides forward.

And, with a startled yelp, drops straight through the foggy curtain. She cries out for a second, and then there’s a loud crash.

“Azlyn!” Telary cries out in concern, rushing forward and meeting a similar fate. A calm quiet follows the wizard’s crash, but moments later pained groans can be heard.

“Guys?” Sora calls down, not moving an inch from the solid ground he stands on at the moment. “Are you okay? Did something…?”

“There’s a bit of a drop!” Telary’s voice calls up. “Nothing bad, but we’re a little sore down here! If you go to your right, there’s a path down. Be careful!”

Sora frowns, looking out over the area. Not far away another tunnel opens up, the foggy cloud layer continuing to obscure anything below. If the trio take the rest of the journey on Pegasus’s back, there’s no way they’ll be able to spot the Organization Nobody through that concealing fog!

“You go fly on ahead, Pegasus,” Sora instructs the winged stallion. “Try and find Meg, and we’ll meet up with you at the other end, okay?”

Pegasus whinnies his agreement, taking off down the tunnel with mighty flaps of his feathery wings.

Sora, meanwhile, cautiously steps to his right, eventually finding the path through the mist, a downward ramp of smooth stone. Reaching the bottom, he sees Azlyn and Telary standing in the middle of the cavern, both looking worse for wear.

“You guys okay?” Sora asks. His companions grumble and groan their response, but nether seem to have taken serious damage. “I sent Pegasus on ahead. Figured we wouldn’t be able to see the thief through that fog.”

“Just a few bumps and bruises,” Telary reports, a profound tiredness in his voice. “Of course, everything _feels_ much worse than it is.”

“This stupid curse is really getting on my nerves!” Azlyn rages, kicking angrily at the stone ground. “When I get my hands on the guy who stole that Olympus Stone…”

Telary turns toward the exit and suddenly tenses. “Uh, I think you’re about to get your chance, Azlyn.”

Turning, the other two members of the trio find a figure in an Organization XIII black coat, his hood raised. Judging by his build, Telary guesses it’s the same guy they saw before their encounter with Hades.

“You!” Sora declares accusatorily, summoning the Keyblade to his hand. Thanks to his training in the coliseum, he’s ready for the extra weight the curse adds to his weapon, and doesn’t falter at all. “You took the Olympus Stone, didn’t you?”

The figure flinches, seeming almost frightened by the Keybearer’s strong tone.

“Man, Roxas,” the Nobody chuckles, hooded head shaking, “you always _did_ do aggression a lot better than anybody else!”

“Uh, what are you talking about?” Sora asks. Roxas had been the alias he’d chosen in the Land of Dragons, but the Keybearer has no idea why anyone would refer to him by it here in the Underworld.

“Are you gonna give back that stone, or are we gonna have to take it from you?” Azlyn asks threateningly, drawing her shield off her back.

The Nobody holds his hands up defensively. “Now hang on, everybody just wait a minute, okay? I just need a sec to…” Reaching up, the Nobody removes his hood, revealing the gaunt face of a young man. His hair is arranged in an odd cut, a veritable forest of straight hairs atop his head with a few bangs drooping over his forehead, shaved sides, and several long strands sticking out in the back.

“Uh, why does this Nobody have a mullet?” Telary whispers to his companions. “At least, I _think_ that’s what it is.”

The Organization member reaches into the pocket of his long coat and pulls out a card. Frowning, he squints at the small paper square, his lips pursing.

“Uh, what are you…?” Sora begins to ask, so bewildered he actually drops out of his battle stance.

The Nobody holds up one black-gloved finger, eyes skimming across the card. After a second he looks back up at the trio, specifically focusing his gaze on Sora. “So, uh, you sure you’re not gonna respond, Roxas?”

“ _Stop_ calling me that!” Sora rages.

“How did this idiot manage to steal a precious artifact from the gods themselves?” Azlyn asks, scowling at the bewildering Nobody.

“Well, if you won’t respond,” the Organization member sighs, tucking the card away, “I guess I’ll just have to ‘use aggression to liberate the subject’s true disposition’. Or, at least that’s what the card said, anyway.”

“So, does that mean we’re going to fight?” Telary asks, scratching at his head in confusion.

The Nobody shrugs. “Yeah, I guess so.” A deep sigh follows, and he mutters under his breath, “Boy did they ever pick the wrong guy for _this_ job.”

“Are all Nobodies as freaky as you?” Sora asks.

The black-cloaked man scoffs, reaching into his other pocket and withdrawing a small, round medallion covered in gold leaf. There’s an inscription of some sort carved into its face, but Sora can’t make it out across the distance.

“He’s got the stone on him!” Azlyn cries triumphantly, settling back into her fight-ready stance. “Something tells me it’s gonna be cake to get it back from his slimy Nobody paws!”

“You are so _rude_ , little girl! And the name is Demyx!” Dropping the Olympus Stone to the ground, Demyx reaches out his arms and suddenly dozens of bubbles gather there, coalescing into the shape of a large blue stringed instrument in the shape of the Nobody emblem.

“You’re going to _guitar_ us to death?” Sora blurts, bending his knees and gripping the Keyblade.

“Wow, I guess you’re pretty far gone there, Roxas,” Demyx says with just a hint of sadness. “If you don’t even remember my sitar!” Suddenly the Nobody’s fingers begin strumming and plucking furiously, striking up a fast paced tune. “Dance water, dance!”

With no warning other than those few words, a group of watery shapes appear from thin air, all sort of resembling their Nobody master. Within moments of coalescing, the water clones begin to glide towards the trio.

Sora rushes forward, his allies coming in right behind him. He hits a pair of water clones head on, swiping the Keyblade through them with ease. Another pair approach then, then another, each as easily dispatched as the last.

Behind Sora, Azlyn finds herself suddenly in a cluster of at least ten water clones, all of them closing in on the knight swiftly. Reaching out, she grabs a clone by its quarter-note shaped head, lifting it up and swinging it in a circle over her head. The slashing motion it makes easily cuts through its companions. Off to the side, Telary uses what little fire magic he can to deal with his own cluster.

Demyx is plucking furiously at his sitar now, a look of pure concentration fixed on his face. Luckily for his opponents, it takes so much effort for the Nobody to maintain his minions that he remains rooted to one spot.

Knocking through a curtain of five clones, Sora swings Keyblade in a wide arc, aiming for a slash across Demyx’s chest.

The Nobody’s reaction is deceptively quick, however, and with a hard-struck chord he summons forth a high-pressure water jet, slamming into Sora and sending the Keybearer stumbling back.

“Did that do it, Roxas?” Demyx asks hopefully, his strumming ceased. The water clones already conjured remain, but production of new ones ceases.

Sora scowls, rising to his feet. “My name is _not_ Roxas!”

Demyx yelps like a five-year-old, a portal of Darkness rising up to engulf him. He isn’t gone long, but when he reappears it’s farther still into the tunnel.

The Nobody shakes his head. “Aw, Roxas, come back to us!” Within a moment he’s opened another dark portal, and this time he vanishes for good.

“What was with that guy?” Azlyn asks through labored breaths, placing her shield back onto its holder. “He just wouldn’t stop calling you Roxas.”

“Total broken record!” Sora agrees.

“The other Organization XIII member we saw in Land of Dragons could have told him about your fake name,” Telary posits. “Maybe he was just trying to mess with you.”

“Well, whatever was up with him,” Azlyn says, bending down to pick up the Olympus Stone off the ground where Demyx had dropped it, “at least he had this.” She frowns at the stone’s inscription, a lightning bolt shooting down from clouds above. “How do you suppose this works?”

Telary takes the artifact from her, trying to remember all he can about his magic training regarding anti-curse objects. He holds it up to the cavern roof, and suddenly there’s a flash from the object. Lights appear around each of the trio, swirling clockwise momentarily before fading out.

The effect is instantaneous, and Sora can feel the exact moment the Keyblade’s weight returns to its normal state. He gives it a swing, slashing the blade through the air as easily as if it was made of cardboard.

The others also feel their strength return, and Telary’s magic as well. All in all, the stone’s effect is like a hot bath and deep tissue massage all wrapped up in one dizzying effect.

“That’s some good stuff,” Azlyn comments satisfactorily, smiling wide.

Sora nods agreeably. “Now let’s get going guys. After all, Meg still needs our help!”

The trio take off down the tunnel, and Sora feels as physically fit as ever. But mentally, something about Demyx’s insistence on using the name Roxas nags at him.

And, unbeknownst to the Keybearer, something stirs in his heart as well.

**KH-KH-KH**

The network of tunnels and caves at this end of the Underworld is much smaller, and soon the trio find themselves at the bottom of a staircase that rises straight out of the layer of fog overhead.

At the top of the stairs is a vast atrium, a large set of double doors up a short staircase at the opposite end. Pegasus awaits the group, trotting back and forth in a way that seems nervous to Sora. Upon seeing the trio, Pegasus lets out a snort and a happy neigh. Turning to the doors, the winged horse thrusts his head at them.

“Is that where Meg is, Pegasus?” Sora asks, receiving a loud whinny of confirmation. Leading the way up the steps, Sora opens the door and enters the chamber beyond.

A large circular balcony juts out over the endless abyss of the Underworld, plumbing depths much too deep and distances too far to see the end of. In the middle of the chamber sits a large stone, a carving of Meg done in stunning detail upon its face, with a small keyhole next to it. Behind the stone, a pillar of pitch black energy roses up and into a hole in the cave ceiling. Stone tendrils surround the circular pit it springs forth from, like chains on a padlock.

“Well, I bet that’s where she’s being held,” Azlyn says of the giant stone with the kidnap victim’s likeness carved into it.

“No, really?” Sora shoots back sarcastically, giving his companion a mischievous grin and a wink. The knight just rolls her eyes in response.

Stepping past a nervous Pegasus, Sora reaches out with the Keyblade, calling upon its power like he had during their first escape from the Underworld. The customary beam of light shoots forth and plunges into the depths of the keyhole.

As the beam fades, cracks start to appear in the rock, spidering out and giving off the soft white glow of pure Light energy. The cracks soon spread to engulf both the main stone and the tendrils stretching out from it, and with a flush the elaborate carving collapses into so much rubble. The dark column fades out to a pleasant turquoise.

“Stay here, Pegasus,” Telary instructs Herc’s pet, patting the stallion’s furry neck. “Be ready to bail once we’ve got Meg, okay?”

Pegasus replies with a loud whinny and a nod. It seems like an affirmation, so the trio decide to just go with it.

Weapons already out and prepared, the trio rush into the turquoise column of light. For a half-second their vision seems overloaded by the colorful pillar, but soon things return to normal.

Hades, Megara next to him with chains of smoky shadow wrapped around her slim form and mouth, stands in the middle of a cavern covered in a light coating of snow. Surrounding the circular chamber is a continuous blue wall that seems to be held up with large bones, extending up to a dark ceiling.

The Lord of the Underworld looks surprisingly happy to see the trio, giving them a great big grin that chills them to the bone.

“Man, oh man, is that a key!” Hades exclaims, laughing at some joke only he seems to get. “I gotta tell you, I owe you a great big thanks for all the help, Sora my boy.” He winks. “Turns out you _are_ good for something after all!”

“Hades!” Sora roars. That’s all he gets the chance to say before the god vanishes in one of his trademark smoke puffs.

“Well, that wasn’t what I expected,” Telary comments as the trio approach the bound and gagged Megara, ready to free her and see her safely back to her husband.

The trapped young woman also doesn’t seem to be reacting to the situation within expectations, as she looks past the approaching trio with a distraught look on her face, she yells out something, but it’s muffled into unintelligibility by her gag.

“Is something wrong, Meg?” Sora asks sympathetically.

“Oh, something’s _about_ to be, buddy boy!” exclaims a triumphant, and eminently recognizable, voice.

“Pete!” Sora, Azlyn, and Telary cry out as one, whirling around to see the fat cat nuisance blocking the turquoise exit column. Purple batlike Heartless with metal hooks chained to their torsos hover above him, and a trio of Rabid Dogs flank him on the ground.

“Aw, are you fellas not happy to see yer ol’ pal Petey again?” the malevolent minion asks sarcastically, his big belly shaking from laughter. “I’d think you’d be over the moon! ‘Specially with that Underworld curse draining your strength.”

“Better think again,” Sora mutters beneath the sound of another gloating belly laugh from Pete. Beside him the others ready for battle as well.

With a gesture from Pete the Heartless swarm, six Hook Bats all swooping down to attack. Sora takes out two with a single Keyblade stroke, Azlyn bashes a trio away in quick succession, and Telary fries another with a fireball.

The Rabid Dogs try their hands (or paws, as it were) next, bounding up to the trio with jaws snapping. Azlyn throws her shield at the Heartless, knocking one down and clipping another in its side. Telary conjures up a lightning bolt next, zapping one into wisps of dark matter.

So focused on the frontal assault, none of the trio notice a second threesome of Rabid Dogs sneaking up from behind. One goes for Meg, and the others attempt to run interference, aided by a pair of Hook Bats.

Azlyn and Telary stand ground to deal with their attackers, but Sora sidesteps that confrontation entirely to dive at the Heartless chasing Meg, whose running ability is seriously impaired by her restraints. A single downward stroke of the Keyblade is enough to defeat the Rabid Dog, a pink crystal heart floating briefly in the air before disappearing into the ether.

Distracted by victory, Sora turns too late to see a large ball of purple metal rolling towards him. The boy curiously cocks his head at the sphere, just in time for it to explode in an expanding orb of flames and smoke.

The large blast generates enough concussive force to knock Sora and both his companions back to their butts, and Meg as well.

“Gotcha!” Pete gloats, slowly approaching the dazed heroes with a smug grin across his large face. “Oh boy are you guys easy targets! All it takes is a little taste of success and ya get so distracted by yer own winning…”

“Hey Pete!” Azlyn calls out mockingly, her eyes darting over the fat cat’s shoulder momentarily before fixing on his face. “You might wanna listen to your own advice here.”

Pete looks down at the knight, bewildered by her confident statement. “What to heck are you talkin’ ‘bout, girl?”

A Hook Bat, screeching bloody murder, flies through the air and straight into Pete’s back. Maleficent’s minion is in no way prepared for the force the Heartless hits with, and stumbles forward heavily. He recovers in a moment, and turns to see Hercules standing in the light of the turquoise exit column. The fat cat only has time to widen his eyes in disbelief before the hero of Olympus knocks him over with a punch.

“Herc, you came!” Sora cries out cheerily. With a swipe of the Keyblade, he dissipates the smoke chains binding the demigod’s wife. Free of bonds, the Meg runs to her husband. They embrace happily.

After holding each other for a moment, Hercules lets go of Meg and lets out a dismissive scoff. “Oh, you thought I might not make it? C’mon guys, it was _only_ a Hydra. It’s not like I’m some junior hero!”

“Oh, ha ha Herc,” Azlyn says with a mocking roll of her eyes.

Raising his fingers to his lips, Hercules lets out a loud whistle. Within moment, Pegasus flies through the column of light, clipping the slowly rising Pete and sending him to the snowy ground once more.

The winged horse alights gracefully, and in moments Meg is mounted on his back.

“You’ve gotta get Meg out of here, Pegasus,” Hercules instructs his pet, who neighs agreeably. The demigod understands and turns to face the Heartless still present in the cavern, surrounding their dazed master. “I’m gonna show these guys what happens when they mess with a True Hero.”

Meg bites her lip and looks to Sora, the pleading in her expression clear. Sora thinks he understands her panic; after having just faced down the Hydra, plus the stress of constant day to day battles, her husband has to be tired out already.

“We’ll stay with ya, Herc,” the Keybearer informs the demigod. “Not to step on your toes or anything, but Pete is kind of our nemesis.”

“Understandable,” Hercules replies, tapping his hand against Pegasus’s flank. Once again the steed rises into the air on his feathery wings, flapping out through the exit determinedly.

With Meg safe, Hercules and the world travelers once again take up combat positions against Pete and his Heartless. The fat cat has regained his feet by now, and scowls at his opposition.

“So, you think yer real tough customer, do ya?” Pete bellows, the Hook Bats and Rabid Dogs around him twitching in anticipation of a kill order. “Well, you can’t beat what ya can’t hit!” Muttering a few words that Telary instantly recognizes as an incantation of some sort, Pete conjured up a honeycombed sphere of energy around his body, safely insulating him from harm.

“Nice shield spell,” the wizard comments, oddly appreciatively. He shrugs and says a bit disbelievingly, “Maybe Pete isn’t such an idiot after all.”

The Heartless legion charges the group, coming in both low and high. Even with the quartet working together, the sheer number of foes arrayed against them is a challenge. Herc, Sora, and Azlyn use all the strength available to them to keep the enemies off Telary, who searches his head for a way to counter Pete’s shield.

Azlyn stretches her arm to prevent a Hook Bat from nailing her wizardly counterpart. “We could really use an idea sometime soon, Tel!”

“I’m working on it!” the wizard protests, briefly noticing Herc taking on a trio of Rabid Dogs singlehandedly off to the side. “But with all of these distractions… Hey, that’s it!”

Sora has reached Pete, but finds that even his enchanted blade cannot cut through the fat cat’s spell. His protective orb rolls back with the force, however, momentarily startling Pete within.

“Sora!” Telary calls out, both hands cupped around his mouth. “You have to break Pete’s concentration to take down the shield!”

Sora nods, already inventing a surefire way to splinter the fat cat’s focus. The Keybearer darts around to the back of Pete’s shield and hops up, concentrating all his might into a single blow. The Keyblade impacts solidly against the magic shield, knocking it forward like a kid’s kickball.

Inside the sphere, Pete rolls round and around, growing progressively dizzier and unfocused with each revolution. The sphere rolls straight on, and Hercules rushes to intercept it. When it and its bumbling passenger reach the demigod, Herc pulls back his arm and unleashes his mightiest punch. With Pete too dizzied to hold his shield together, it shatters into a hundred tiny pieces, and the fat cat himself goes flying back through the air, landing on his rump in a snowy patch.

“Aw, who needs this creepy place anyway!” he declares, rising and giving his defeaters a last scowl. “I’ll deal with you three nitwits next time!” With that promise stated, he turns and runs into the exit.

“Did he really just call _us_ nitwits?’ Telary asks with incredulity. “Oh, Pete, those who live in glass houses should _not_ throw stones.”

“C’mon, guys,” Herc says, “let’s go make sure Meg made it out okay.” The demigod looks so tired, depleted in a way that the trio have never seen him. Still, the quartet marches for the exit, all happy to have saved the day.

**KH-KH-KH**

They reach the Underworld’s entrance in record time, no obstacles springing up to obstruct their retreat. Pegasus and Megara, along with a now fully recovered Phil, wait for the quartet there.

Herc wastes no time before rushing to his wife and planting a passionate kiss on her lip, which she happily returns.

Sora’s happy for the couple’s reunion, but the pleasure he feels is dulled significantly by his longing to see Kairi once again.

“Ugh, two words champ,” Phil butts in, knocking his former student on the shin and pulling him out of his matrimonial embrace. “Cut. It. Out!”

“Yeah, it does seem a bit early for celebrations, eh Wonderboy?” Hades declares, casually strolling into the cavern. In an instant, everyone present is ready to deliver a beatdown to the demigod.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here!” Azlyn says through clenched teeth.

Hades shrugs, unconcerned by all of the opposition arrayed against him. “Yeah, well, we’ll see who’s macking honeys when you schmucks get back to the coliseum. Or, hey, what’s left of it!”

“What are you talking about?” Hercules asks, his voice wavering with hesitation. “The coliseum is safe, I _beat_ the Hydra…”

“Did you, Hercy-Poo?” Hades taunts, his sharp-toothed smile widening. “Did you _really_?”

The Lord of the Dead snaps his fingers jauntily, and the thick smoke that is the usual accompaniment to his teleportation surrounds the whole group. Unprepared, the heroes begin to choke on the smog.

It clears seconds later, and all caught in its effect find themselves back in the sunny midafternoon air, standing at the dusty entrance to the coliseum.

Or rather, what once was the coliseum. The arena itself is a complete wreck, the entire lobby building now so much rubble. Even the golden gladiator statues, once the proud symbol of the games, have been cracked into pieces, one of the heads lying solemnly next to the spot the group appears in, most of its golden sword beside it.

Behind the rubble that once was the arena stalks the huge, purple-scaled serpent known as the Hydra. Atop a long neck is its ugly head, a maw large enough to swallow a man in a single gulp, lined with two rows of pointed teeth. The neck leads to a wide body, two arms ending in razor sharp claws dragging the beast along the ground. The body tapers back into a long tail, strong enough to crush stone and perfect for battering enemies.

Hercules, stunned by the utter destruction of one of Greece’s most famed structures and his home away from home for many long years, sink to his knees in utter despair.

“This can’t be happening!” the demigod mumbles distraughtly. “How could this…?”

“Well,” Hades says simply, clearly loving every anguished second of his hated nephew’s agony, “good luck. See ya real soon!”

“Hades!” Sora rages, slashing out with the Keyblade only to meet thin air.

“Herc, you gotta get up!” Phil encourages his devastated student.

“I failed everyone!” Herc wails, holding his head in his hands. “I let everyone down, put them all in danger…” He removes his hands, and tears can be seen in his bright blue eyes. “I’m no hero.”

There’s a sudden physical transformation, Hercules’ tanned skin fading into a pallid, sickly pale shade.

“No, Wonderboy, of course you are!” Meg tries to reassure her husband, her voice nearly as lost and broken as her husband.

“I didn’t train you to think like that, kid!” Phil says.

“You really shouldn’t beat yourself up about this, Hercules,” Telary adds in.

“Yeah,” Azlyn interjects, looking up to where the fearsome Hydra has noticed the group, looking down upon them with a clear intention to strike. “You should be beating up that giant monster that wants to _eat_ us!”

Hercules says nothing, only moaning once more.

“I think Herc should sit this one out, guys,” Sora suggests. The Keybearer turns to look at the serpent above, slowly making its way towards its new prey. “We’ll handle it!”

“Meg, I think you should get Herc to safety,” Telary suggests as he prepares his staff and will. The young woman nods, helping her defeated husband to his feet and starting a slow stagger to the sidelines.

“Got room for one more?” Phil asks, testing out some punches and kicks. Pegasus whinnies supportively as well.

The Hydra drags its body over the rubble of the lobby, head rearing back to deliver a whip, quick strike.

It’s a feint, and instead the beast opens with a sweep of its long tail. It comes fast and hard, only Sora, Azlyn, and Pegasus managing to avoid being struck. The humans land on the ground, while Pegasus rises to an even high altitude.

Telary and Phil land near where Meg and Hercules rest. Concerned for them, the young woman grabs a pair of potions and hands them out. With some quick gulps the pair restore themselves, ready to leap back into the fray.

The Hydra’s ugly mug, lowered down to Sora and Azlyn’s level like a microphone on a boom, snaps at the pair, who manage to use their speed and agility to avoid the chomps. Azlyn backflips to escape one snap of the pointed maws, and halfway through her descending backflip hurls her shield. The metal disc bounces off the Hydra’s head, paining and perturbing the fearsome serpent.

Sensing its distraction, Sora rushes in with the Keyblade, batting Hydra in the side of the head and causing more confusion to the beast. Suddenly inspired, the Keybearer turns and slashes at its neck, the blunt shaft of the Keyblade somehow delivering enough force to sever the head completely, sending it flying with a burst of green blood that Sora only barely avoids being soaked by.

The headless body of the vicious serpent staggers drunkenly for a moment, before the creature’s long neck plunges forward, digging through the sandy ground.

“Whoa!” Sora exclaims, high on adrenaline and victory. “Man, that was way easier than I…”

The sound of exploding earth and rock cuts off anything else the Keybearer might have said, as _three_ Hydra heads suddenly explode from the ground, each as menacing and powerful looking as the original.

“You were saying?” Azlyn grumbles out loud, barely raising her shield to block a forceful head-butt from the head nearest her. The power of the blow drives her back several feet, tiny trenches of displaced sand forming around her boots.

Telary has arrived now, and he calls down a trio of thunderbolts, hoping for each lightning strike to stun one head, line them up for easy severing. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy, and two bolts miss while a third barely seems to make a dent.

Each member of the trio takes a head, but it seems that these replacements are three times as tough as the first, absorbing strikes and fireball and shield edges like a dry sponge.

“Hey, Sora!” Phil calls from the sidelines. “Hey, Sora, I got an idea!”

Sora dodges a serpentine strike, knocks back the head with a quick pair of strikes, and turns to see Phil standing on a pile of rocky rubble, a giant barrel like Sora has trained with a hundred time resting beside him.

“Sora, get up on the Hydra’s…” the satyr calls, but the sound of more of Telary’s thunderbolts cut him off.

“What?” Sora calls to Phil, batting away the head once again. “I can’t hear you! You’re gonna have to repeat that!”

“Get up on the Hydra’s back!” Phil calls, hopping up and down with a clear urgency. “Get up on the Hydra’s back! Get up on the Hydra’s back! Get up on the Hydra’s back!”

“Hey!” Azlyn calls out to Phil from her current position, up on the Hydra’s back. “ _I_ heard you the first time!”

Phil grabs the large barrel and lifts it over his head. “Incoming!” With a grunt of effort, the satyr throws it into the air.

Azlyn, caught up on the gist of the plan, leaps up into the air and readies her shield, bringing it down on the barrel and sending it crashing into the base of the Hydra’s neck.

The effect on the heads down in the entrance field is immediate. Stunned by the sudden impact, all three go limp, dazed looks in their yellow eyes. Sora takes immediate advantage, chopping through them one by one. As he goes through the head Telary was concentrating on, the bright green blood that flies from its point of severance washes over Telary, grossing the wizard out big time.

“Well,” Sora says, resting the Keyblade on his shoulder, “that oughta…”

 _Seven_ heads spring forth from the Hydra’s body, the speed and ferocity of their arrival shocking Azlyn backwards. Slipping on the serpent’s scales, she falls from its back. Luckily, Pegasus swoops down in the nick of time to save her from a nasty impact.

“Oh, man, this just isn’t fair!” Sora exclaims, diving to the side as three Hydra heads slam down into the ground he was just standing on. They seem to be significantly tougher even then the three previous, not even stunned for a moment by their impact with the ground.

“Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that the head-slicing ship has sailed,” Telary suggests.

All seven heads rear up as one, ready to slam down across so much area that there will be no way for anyone to dodge the onslaught. The attack doesn’t make it, however, as suddenly Pegasus, Azlyn astride his back with a determined look fixed to her face, flies past.

Reaching out, Azlyn rams the heavy face of her shield into one head, then another, then another. The heads not yet affected by the attack seem to rally, snapping at the winged horse and his knightly mount. The stallion is too fast, however, and dodges and weaves his way through danger, Azlyn getting in what hits she can.

Taking advantage of their companion’s distraction, the boys on the ground take a moment to prepare a plan.

“I think we should just discard any plans that involve cutting,” Telary suggests first of all. “Every time that happens, things just seem to get worse.”

There’s a loud impact noise beside the pair, and they turn to see a Hydra head, about three feet of neck still attached, lying beside them. Both boys looks up at the still-flying Azlyn, and the three new heads the Hydra has sprouted.

“Sorry!” the knight calls down, bashing in another scaly face. “That’s _my_ bad!”

“Well, if we can’t beat the heads,” Sora says, eyes darting to and fro as he works through a possible plan, “then we’ll just have to take care of its _body_ , right?”

“So, stab it?” Telary clarifies. When Sora shrugs an affirmative, the mage begins to consider the plan. “Eh,” he says after a few seconds of deliberating, “it’s worth a shot!”

Up in the air, Azlyn holds on for dear life, left arm curled tightly around Pegasus’s neck so her right is free to strike out, distracting the Hydra from her friends on the ground. She realizes that she hasn’t much time for this tactic, as soon even the dimmest of heads will realize that Hydra doesn’t need to focus all its weapons on one opponent.

Sparing a brief glance down, she spies Sora, Telary, Phil, and Meg all surrounding the golden sword of one of the gladiator statues, making some kind of concerted effort to lift it off the ground.

Hydra notices as well, and a pair of low heads turn to disrupt the effort. Kicking her heels into Pegasus’s flank, Azlyn directs the creature downward, knocking her shield into both heads in rapid succession. Enraged, the heads turn to deal with the aerial nuisance, somehow forgetting the ground players for now.

Those same ground players struggle to upright the fallen golden sword, lining up its tip with the Hydra’s torso. With a supreme effort they manage to balance it, a few feet back from Hydra to allow momentum to build as they push forward, hopefully running the beast straight through.

“This would be a lot easier with Herc’s help!” Phill grumbles as the group backs up, trying to build thrust.

“We said we’d take care of it Phil,” Sora grunts. They’re in position now, all ready for the big rush forward. “And heroes always keep their promises.”

“ _Junior_ heroes, Sora,” Telary corrects, basically doing it on reflex at this point.

“Whatever,” Sora huffs. “Everybody ready?” Words and noises of confirmation rise up from his compatriots so Sora feels confident giving his next order. “Charge!”

The quartet move forward, thrusting the blade out. It impacts against the Hydra’s scaly skin, scoring a gash easily as tall as Telary in its hide. It’s not enough to kill, but plenty sufficient as an opening.

It’s also sufficient to enrage the Hydra, sending all nine of its heads into a frenzy, each waving about on its long neck. The wild thrashing of one head has the dumb luck to knock into Pegasus, startling the horse. He turns with a perturbed whinny, and Azlyn goes pitching off his side, sliding down his fuzzy back and out into open air.

“Azlyn!” Telary cries out, dropping his part of the sword and rushing to the spot his counterpart is falling towards.

Unprepared for Telary’s considerable support to cease, the remaining three stumble, dropping the golden sword to the ground.

“It’s okay,” Sora assures Megara and Phil. “With that gap in its scales, I think I can finish this!”

The Keybearer rushes forward. Focusing on all his surroundings, he hears the sound of heads incoming before they impact, and manages to bob and weave between headslams, even the shockwaves not deterring his run.

Telary, meanwhile, rushes up the nearest pile of rubble at top speed. If he can get high enough, it should be simpler than not to intercept the falling Azlyn. He hopes he’s fast enough, the adrenaline seemingly stretching every moment and making it easier for him to find footholds in the loose rubble than it would be normally.

Finally reaching sufficient height, the wizard pulls up his knees, gathering strength for a saving leap…

Sora makes it through the killing field to the gash, green blood that unfortunately reminds him of the Well of Souls leaking from it in spurts. A large amount washes over him, but he ignores it, pulling back the Keyblade for a strike…

Telary times his move perfectly, knocking into Azlyn only feet from the ground, arresting her momentum. Unfortunately, the pair have new momentum, racing for the sandy ground. They land hard, but it’s survivable.

“Azlyn!” Telary exclaims, cupping his counterpart’s face in gently in his hands. Her eyes are closed, and for a second he fears the worst.

She moans, eyes fluttering briefly before they slowly open, finding Telary’s and fixing on them exclusively.

“You saved me,” she says, a bit dumbstruck suddenly for reasons she’s sure don’t have to do with her great fall. She smiles. “You saved my life, Telary.”

The wizard blushes, turning suddenly shy and sheepish. “I’ve, uh, I’ve kinda done that before, Azlyn.”

Now it’s the knight’s turn to blush. “Well, yeah, I guess you have.” Her eyes move downward, no longer focusing on Telary’s eyes, but rather his lips. They only linger there for a second before they’ve locked eyes again.

Suddenly both of them have the urge to lean forward, meet in the middle and just try out a single, reckless kiss…

The Hydra’s body falls to the ground as Sora stabs the Keyblade inside of the gaping gash across its chest, heads landing all over the ground in a tangle of scaly necks and lifeless skulls. The impact is huge, and everything on the coliseum ground visibly shakes.

The vibrations hit Azlyn and Telary like an electric shock, and the pair pull back from each other, Telary dropping his counterpart from his arms.

“Uh, so, thanks,” Azlyn says curtly, nodding once to Telary.

“Hey, whatever” the wizard returns, shrugging nonchalantly. In the back of his mind he realizes what almost just happened between him and Azlyn, and he isn’t sure whether to be excited or scared out of his mind.

“Whooo!” Sora cries triumphantly, popping up between two necks. He’s covered in slimy green blood, but for the moment he could care less, flush with victory. “For the folks keeping track at home, that is Sora _one_ , Hydra _zippo zero_! Haha, YES!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Removing the Hydra’s carcass takes time, but with a little godly assistance the remains of the coliseum get cleared of dead serpent.

Things are still a mess however, actually considerably worse after the big battle. The group all gathers around Hercules, who still looks pale and sickly, sitting on the remains of the lobby’s steps. The once proud hero’s confidence is truly shot.

“I can’t believe I froze like that back there!” the demigod sighs deeply, shaking his head mournfully. “I _made_ that mess, and then I couldn’t even clean it up! I’m even more useless than I thought!”

“It isn’t your fault, Hercules,” Megara assures her husband, both her arms wrapped tightly around his left. “You’ve been through so much lately, and it just now caught up with you.” She kisses his cheek. “Even a god would be exhausted.”

“She’s right,” Sora agrees, patting Herc on the shoulder. “You just need some time to rest, and you’ll be good as new again!”

“At least there won’t be any games for a while,” Telary adds, grimacing at the pile of rubble that was once the coliseum. “You’ll have plenty of time to rest while things get fixed up.”

“Not to mention you have people who really care about you,” Sora says. He smiles at Azlyn and Telary. “Trust me, that’s what really helps when things are down.”

“I’ll take good care of Wonderboy,” Meg assures the Keybearer. “You can be sure of that.” She gives her husband another peck, the turns back to the trio. “I owe you three big time, I really do.”

“I take munny,” Azlyn says. Sora and Telary glare at her. She sighs. “Kidding, of course. It’s what real heroes do.”

“When did you three make hero?” Megara snorts, earning one last bout of enmity from the knight.

“Well, it’s probably time for us to hit the road,” Sora declares reluctantly. Suddenly, though, he remembers something. “Oh, yeah, here’s the Olympus Stone back…”

The Keybearer retrieves to stone from his pocket, reaching out to hand it off to Hercules. Halfway through the motion, however, the stone begins to glow, hovering into the air in a familiar way.

Sora opens the pathway with ease, and as soon as he’s out from the mysterious cloudy place he once again moves to return the stone to Herc.

The disheartened hero shakes his head. “No, you keep it. Just in case you need to go back into the Underworld for any reason.” Hercules sighs. “Besides, I don’t think I deserve it anymore.”

“Maybe next time you guys could stick around a bit,” Phil says, frowning at the trio for some unfathomable reason. “We got a lotta training to do.”

Azlyn almost says something pithy, but is interrupted by an odd bump against her side. Turning, she sees Pegasus standing next to her, giving her a cheery horse-grin.

“Looks like somebody can’t wait to see you again, Azlyn,” Sora teases the knight.

“Finally,” Azlyn says with a grin, briefly allowing the winged horse to nuzzle her face, “an animal that likes me!”


	11. New Hassle, Same Castle

Jiminy Cricket sits atop the table in the Gummi ship’s middeck common room, whistling softly along to an old tune about wishing on stars. Beside of him sits the journal he’s been keeping for this trip, his quill laying across its open pages. In his hands he holds the strange note from his old journal.

“Thank Naminé,” he repeats, slowly and carefully, letting every syllable of the two words roll across his tongue slowly, his mind searching for any possible meaning of the message. He’s been doing pretty much this same thing for hours now, desperately wracking his brain for any hints that could lead him to the knowledge he seeks, but so far… “Nothing!”

The sudden sight of three columns of light springing up from the teleporter abates the chronicler’s frustration somewhat, knowing that Sora, Azlyn, and Telary are back with exciting tales of new adventures to store in his second journal.

“Hey there, kiddos!” Jiminy greets his returning friends, placing the mysterious note in his journal and shutting the book tight. “How was the coliseum? Did ya see yer old buddies again?”

Sora nods, stepping off the teleporter platform jauntily. “Yeah,” he says cheerfully. After a moment he frowns, however. “Things went kinda sideways, though.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, Sora,” Jiminy says sympathetically. “Good thing is though, with the path open now, you can come back and check on your friends whenever you like!”

“It wasn’t all bad, though,” the Keybearer admits, leaning back in a chair and resting his feet on the table. “I got to fight a big monster, and it wasn’t even a Heartless!”

“Cool!” Jiminy exclaims. Realizing he’s only spoken to one hero, he turns back to see Azlyn and Telary standing rather awkwardly together, both intent on preventing eye contact between them. Jiminy gives the pair an odd look and asks, “What about you guys? Anything interesting happen?”

There’s no response for a few seconds, then suddenly Telary flinches like he’s been slapped.

“Nothing really odd, Jim,” the wizard reports, speaking rapidly in a nervous tone of voice. “Isn’t that right, Azlyn? Everything was normal for me and you, right?”

“Yeah,” Azlyn replies, ducking her head away from her counterpart’s gaze. “It was just like any other adventure. Nothing different at all, for me and Telary.”

Jiminy’s forehead furrows as he looks over the pair. He opens his mouth to make sure that nothing is wrong…

“I have to fly the ship!” Telary blurts suddenly, smacking himself in the forehead rather dramatically. The noise it makes is loud enough to make Jiminy wince sympathetically, though Telary doesn’t seem to be discomfited. “Can’t stop Organization XIII if we don’t fly the ship places!” With another nervous smile, the wizard flees to the cockpit ladder.

“I gotta go to my room,” Azlyn chimes in, resolutely _not_ watching Telary go. Still frowning, she heads off to her own chambers.

After Azlyn leaves, things are silent in the common room. Jiminy sits frowning, wondering what might have caused such strange behavior in the Disney Castle duo. It’s almost as great a conundrum as “Thank Naminé.”

“Hey, Sora,” the chronicler says to the Keybearer, who looks up from biting rather savagely at one of his nails, “did anything happen to Azlyn and Telary down there? They seemed off just now.”

Sora releases the fingernail from his mouth and shrugs. “They probably feel bad about what happened at the coliseum,” he says easily. “Or maybe they’re jealous because I got to kill the Hydra and they hardly did anything.” Suddenly, Sora seems a lot perkier. “Wanna hear how I did it?”

Ensconced in the safety of her room, Azlyn lets out a sigh and falls back onto her bed. For a long moment her mind is clear, absentmindedly gazing up at the nondescript ceiling. But, inevitably, her thoughts drift back to the odd moment after Telary had saved her.

It had hit her suddenly, the overwhelming urge to thank her friend for the rescue in a beyond-friendly manner. One moment she’d been flailing helplessly through the air, too disoriented and afraid to even have a thought, and the next she’d been safe and thinking of kissing Telary.

She’d never thought of the older boy like that before, had she? They’d always just been friends; at first bound together by the feelings of isolation and abnormality of being both orphans and the only humans in Disney Castle or Mouseburg, then later by their reckless decision to escape that world together.

That closeness had only grown as the pair shared adventure after adventure, there to help each other not only in dire combat, but through the emotional trials of the journey as well. Their friendship had deepened and expanded, but had it really changed that much? Had _she_ changed?

The knight sits up and shakes her head to clear it, _really_ not wanting to deal with weird emotional thoughts like this.

“Who am I, Sora?” she asks herself caustically. Deciding that contemplation isn’t her strong suit and _never_ will be, she decides that there’s only one way to properly deal with this odd situation.

She goes to punch stuff.

**KH-KH-KH**

Up in the cockpit, Telary finds himself trapped in much the same loop of thoughts as Azlyn, considering his and the knight’s relationship from every angle in his own, nervously haphazard way.

They’d grown up together, sure, but Telary had always been older, always the voice of reason and guidance to balance Azlyn’s reckless nature. It had been nigh-symbiotic since he could remember; he pushed her to consider boundaries, and she pushed him to break them. Does he feel more brotherly toward her, or is that just an excuse?

There’s the age difference, but really two years is nothing when you think about it, especially when two people have experienced the kinds of things they have together. Still, is it weird?

“Hey, Tel,” Sora greets the wizard as he clambers into the cockpit, pulling himself up with one had while the other holds a bag of pretzels. Slaying monsters is hungry work, after all.

“Sora,” Telary greets the younger boy curtly, nodding absentmindedly as he makes his way to the passenger seat.

“Where are we going?” the Keybearer asks, stuffing another handful of food in his mouth and muffling his question with chewing noises.

“Uh, we’re not going anywhere, Sora,” Telary admonishes his friend. “I haven’t even started the ship moving yet.”

Sora frowns at him, places the pretzel bag in his lap with a great rustle of plastic. “Um, yeah we are,” he protests, pointing to the small radar on the navigation console. “Look, that thing says we are.”

“What?” Telary swivels hurriedly in his chair, regarding the monitors skeptically. As he looks over everything, he begins to realize with a sudden sense of dread that they are indeed moving. It’s just that he isn’t the one directing the flight.

“If this is your way of getting out of having to teach me to fly without using my hands…”

“I promise you, Sora I have nothing to do with this,” Telary snaps at his younger companion. The wizard/pilot methodically runs his gaze across every screen and dial, searching for some clue as to what is steering their ship, and where they seem to be headed. “We’re just… flying.”

“Y’know what it feels like,” Sora says thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair as if this odd hijacking holds no terror for him at all. “Like last year when Queen Minnie did that recall thingy. Y’know, that took us from Deep Jungle back to your castle?”

Fresh recognition floods Telary, and after a moment he begins to think Sora has the right idea.

“But why would the castle want us back?” Telary wonders, his mind suddenly flooded by all manner of unpleasant reasons for recall. Biting his lip, he turns to Sora and asks, “Do you think something’s happened? The Heartless?”

“No, not Heartless,” Sora says with a shake of his head. “Remember, Queen Minnie showed us that Cornerstone, and said it kept Darkness from entering your world. That means no Heartless, right?”

Telary shrugs, gripping the steering yoke more out of nervous habit than any real desire to take over piloting, though he knows he can’t. “In any case, our world has plenty of bad guys that have nothing to do with the Heartless, as I’m sure you remember.”

Sora grimaces and nods, remembering the Fearsome Four and their attack on the castle. The fiends had been some of the most powerful bad guys he had faced, all without an ounce of Darkness power. The thought of perhaps facing those villains again fills the boy with a considerable amount of dread.

“It could turn out to not be so bad though,” Sora points out, hoping to calm his friend in any small way he can. “Maybe the king came to the castle, and he wants to meet with us!”

“Maybe,” Telary replies, a bit of cheer in the words. His mouth, however, remains fixed in a worried grimace, unable to shake the feeling that something is very wrong.

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn doesn’t like the situation any more than Telary when the boys inform her of the group’s unexpected detour. It actually proves rather useful for clearing away any more awkward thoughts of feelings from both Disney Castle residents’ heads.

Sora does anything he can to try and improve the mood, but even his catching-pretzels-in-mouth routine doesn’t seem to lift the cloud of concern that hovers over his friends. Then again, the Keybearer remembers what it feels like to have friends in danger, so after a bit he stops.

After hours that seem to stretch into days, the ship finally arrives at its destination, the system allowing Telary to switch back to manual for the landing. This isn’t as positive as it may seem, however, since the wizard’s nerves temporarily overcome his flying prowess and he manages to damage the ship’s wing along one wall of the hangar.

The trio rush out as soon as the ship is powered off, Sora trailing Azlyn and Telary as they practically leap down the ladders to the cargo bay’s exit ramp.

The hangar is quiet, still seemingly the same large chamber filled with all manner of technology that Sora finds alien and strange, including the giant gloved hands that hang from the ceiling.

“See, there’s nobody even here,” Sora says with an easy shrug as he walks down the ramp. Out on the landing platform, Azlyn and Telary look around frantically, though for what Sora cannot say.

“That just makes me more worried, idiot,” Azlyn snaps at him, and Sora knows the situation is serious when Telary doesn’t make her apologize for the insult. “If something really bad happened…”

“Thank goodness you’re here!”

Looking up, the trio see the familiar tiny, yellow-smocked forms of Chip and Dale, Gummi engineers extraordinaire, enter the hangar from the main doorway. Leaping up, they slide down the handrail to the platform.

“The castle is in danger!” Chip, the black-nosed and more sensible brother, exclaims half-frantically.

“You’ve gotta get to the library!” commands Dale, the red-nosed joker of the pair. There’s nothing jovial about the chipmunk now though, looking as deadly serious as his brother. “Queen Minnie’s hold up in their waitin’ for ya!”

Telary and Azlyn don’t even reply, already making their exit. Sora, however, decides he would like a bit more of an explanation, just so he knows how to proceed. It actually feels a bit odd, being the cautious one.

“What’s going on up there?” the boy asks Chip and Dale. “Are those fearsome villain guys back?”

“Oh, it’s much worse than that, Sora,” Dale says, shaking his head solemnly.

“Probably best you just see for yourself,” Chip decides, gesturing for the Keybearer to follow him in the same direction Azlyn and Telary took off.

The chipmunk brothers lead Sora to a familiar stairway, which the boy clearly remembers leading up and into the castle’s gardens. The last time he’d been there, they had been swarming with evil plant-based monstrosities created by the vile Dr. Bushroot. Recalling that, he can hardly imagine what might be worse.

The staircase exits from the painstakingly carved foliage replica of the castle itself, which lies in the exact center of the large garden. Surrounding it is a path of short grass, and the area is ringed with statues of animals in band uniforms playing instruments.

Also featured in the space is a rather large contingent of Heartless, facing off against Azlyn and Telary.

Azlyn raises her shield to block the striking claws of a Soldier, before ramming back into it with enough force to send the creature flying back. Beside her, Telary summons up a few lightning bolts to zap a force of Shadows. One gets through, but he bashes it to nonexistence with the heavy head of his staff. Still more are coming, however, narrow-mindedly focused on defeating the pair.

Summoning the Keyblade to his hand, Sora wades into the melee, cutting through three Soldiers in one swipe like they’re made of paper. Hearing more scuttling behind him, he turns and takes another swing, eliminating still more Shadows. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Azlyn toss her shield at another Soldier, dealing enough damage to destroy it before her weapon bounces back into her hand.

It’s the work of about thirty seconds to clear the garden. After the Heartless have gone, the trio stop for a second the catch their breath.

“This is really bad,” Azlyn says, shaking her head in disgust. “I mean _Heartless_ , in the castle? It makes me sick.”

“Especially because it shouldn’t be possible for them to exist here!” Telary agrees, his voice containing an anger Sora is unaccustomed to. “If they’re here, that means something’s happened to the Cornerstone of Light. And if that’s what happened, who knows what other bad things could happen!”

“That’s what the queen is tryin’ to find out,” Chip informs the trio. “She’s been holed up in the library ever since the Heartless appeared.”

“And Donald and Goofy?” Azlyn asks.

Dale shrugs. “Dunno. I haven’t seen ‘em in a while.”

“Those guys are skilled as anybody,” Sora reminds his suddenly dejected companions. “I’m sure they’re both fine.” He swings the Keyblade up to his shoulder, letting its shaft rest there as he strikes a confident pose, one hand on his hip. “Let’s go see the queen and get her help to sort this out.”

Suddenly, Chip and Dale cry out in fear. Looking down, Sora sees the pair staring into the sunny afternoon sky and pointing up. Whipping his head around to follow their fingers, Sora sees a contingent of several Air Soldiers bearing down on the garden.

“Heads up!” Azlyn calls. The trio all fling themselves to the ground, barely avoiding the swipes of the Heartless’s claws as they dive past.

Rolling onto his back, Telary aims his staff and fires off a large Blizzaga blast, the icy energy reaching out to envelope the creatures’ wings. Weighed down by the sudden freeze, the Air Soldiers begin to lose altitude quickly, bringing them down to within striking range. All it takes is a few quick slashes and shield-throws to eliminate the cohort.

But the battle is far from over, as suddenly Soldiers begin springing out from behind the sculpted hedges, easily two dozen.

“This is bad,” Telary states rather unnecessarily, already gathering what magic power he can in preparation of the long fight. “Really bad.”

“Even I’m not feeling as confident as usual,” Azlyn agrees, her eyes shifting from one Heartless to the next.

“But surely you guys’ve taken on tougher challenges than this!” Dale says, obviously confident in the trios’ abilities.

“Yeah,” Chip agrees with a nod. “After all, you’ve got the Keyblade on your side!”

“Yeah, well,” Azlyn grumbles, already tensing for the first throw. “This kinda mess, we might need _two_ Keyblades to fix.”

Suddenly, Sora flashes back to Yen Sid’s tower, specifically the room where the fairies had provided him and his companions with their new clothes. Clothes that had demonstrated a very interesting power.

“Azlyn,” Sora says, taking one hand off the Keyblade and extending his arm to the knight, “take my hand.”

“What?” both Azlyn and Telary ask simultaneously, both a mixture of surprised and perturbed.

“Just do it, Az,” Sora asks, shaking his hand urgently. “Trust me, I’ve got an idea.”

“Okay, Sora,” she relents, grabbing his hand and interlocking their fingers. Beside them, Telary looks on with a frown, and Chip and Dale seem just as confused.

Closing his eyes, Sora takes a moment to focus on the connection he and Azlyn have to each other, sifting through memory after memory of their friendship. Their ups and downs, all the things they share.

“Valor!”

Light explodes around the pair, fragments of pure energy that seem as solid as shards of glass scattering through the air.

Azlyn is gone now, but Sora’s clothes have turned a bright red, fleur-de-lis appearing on his sleeves and pant legs. A second Keyblade, the Oathkeeper born of Kairi’s thalassa charm, rests in his left hand, the Kingdom Key held firm in his right.

“Whoa,” Sora comments, looking himself over. He feels as powerful as he can ever remember, an energy coursing through his body that he’s never felt before.

“Oh, _now_ I remember,” Telary mutters to himself. Chip and Dale both just continue to look confused.

Sora charges forward into the Heartless cohort, both Keyblades swinging out, each hit hard strong enough to cleave a Soldier clean through. He cuts through a pair then, sensing new movement behind him, slams both Keyblades into the ground, sending out a straight line of pure Light that obliterates some Soldiers and scatters a few more.

Three more Air Soldiers appear and swoop down, but Sora easily dodges, leaping atop one foliage sculpture and kicking off with one leg into a backflip. Grunting, he slashes both his blades in an X-cut, carving one of the Air Soldiers into four pieces. Seamlessly turning midair, he bashes through the others.

He lands again, planting both feet on the grassy path and calling four more columns of light that burst up from the ground around him.

That seems to be it for the power stored in his red-garbed form, and with another flash of light that seems to come out of every pore, the Keybearer returns to his normal clothes.

For her part, Azlyn seems no worse for wear. In fact, she smiles at the memory of the rush she’d felt when entwined with Sora.

“Oh, note to self,” she mutters lowly, grimacing. “Never use the word ‘entwined’ when thinking about Sora again.”

“That was amazing!” Dale cries out, leaping excitedly into the air before bounding up to Sora and Azlyn. Telary and Chip walk along behind him. “What happened?”

“Magic,” Sora says with a shrug, the only explanation.

“We got these clothes from Yen Sid,” Telary adds with a sly smile, only serving to summon more awe from both chipmunks.

“I was wonderin’ about those new duds,” Chip admits. “But I never woulda guessed that…”

“Can we just get a move on?” Azlyn suggests impatiently. “The castle, our home, is still in danger from the Heartless.”

The group moves on quickly, Telary leading the way to the garden’s exit, a small door that leads to the bottom of an indoor staircase, carpeted completely in red. Climbing it quickly, they arrive in the midst of the castle colonnade, a long hallway that seems to run the length of the castle. To the right is the interior wall, the massive door to the audience chamber a few yards beyond the staircase, and to the left a long row of columns that afford a view into the garden.

“Huh,” Telary says thoughtfully, scratching his chin and examining the audience chamber door. Something seems to hover over it, a kind of pink-tinted barrier of pure light. “Looks like some kind of spell.”

“I dunno what it is either,” Chip declares.

“The Cornerstone’s chamber is under the thrones,” Azlyn recalls thoughtfully. “The queen must have…”

There’s no more time to discuss theories, as suddenly Shadows begin rising from the carpeted floor, twitching and twist as thy fix their flowing eyes on the group.

“Let’s just get to the library,” Dale suggests. “Queen Minnie’s in there, and she’s probably got it shielded. The door’s at the end of the hall.

And so the heroes set forth again, cutting through the Heartless horde on their way to safety and, hopefully, an explanation from the queen.

With their combined might all working together, it’s the work of less than a minute to reach the doors of the library. Sora throws them open and urges everyone inside, while Telary whips up a last barrage of lightning the cover their exit.

The library is small and square, a fireplace against the right wall and a desk near the left. Directly across from the entrance are shelves that take up the entire wall, all full of books of varying sizes and colors.

Standing before the shelves, the light from the room’s skylight streaming down upon her, is Queen Minnie. She’s dressed in a poofy gown of pink and white, a golden crown nestled between her round black ears.

“Oh dear,” the queen says concernedly, one white-gloved hand resting against her cheek in shock. “Are you all alright?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Telary replies, holding his arms at his sides and giving his queen a stiff bow. Beside him, Azlyn curtsies cleanly.

“What the heck’s going on?” Sora asks without displaying any deference whatsoever. Telary looks appalled, and Azlyn punches the Keybearer in the shoulder. “Ow! Sorry.”

“Please excuse Sora, Queen Minnie,” Telary apologizes on the boy’s behalf. “He’s just eager to find out what’s happening here, and how we can help.”

Minnie smiles at the trio, though it noticeably doesn’t reach to her eyes. “I know. And I thank you for your willingness to help, I really do.”

“So, what _are_ the Heartless doing in your castle, Your Majesty?” Azlyn asks. “I thought that Cornerstone kept them out.”

“So, those are the Heartless,” Minnie says quietly to herself, nodding. She looks back up at the trio and says, “You’re right, of course. The Cornerstone _should_ be repelling the Darkness of the Heartless, but… Well, it may be best if I just showed you.”

“And where are Master Donald and Captain Goofy?” Telary asks, his voice trembling slightly with nerves.

“Off defending the castle, I suppose?” Azlyn suggests.

Minnie shakes her head. “They’re on special assignment from me. In the Cornerstone room.”

“So, who’s keeping the rest of the castle safe?” Azlyn inquires. “And don’t say the Royal Guard, because honestly that’s not much of a comfort.”

“Oh my,” the queen breathes out as her face falls, clutching her head in her hands. “You’re right I completely forgot… I’ve just been so…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Your Majesty,” Telary says, leaning down to console the mouse queen. She looks up at him with teary eyes, and he offers a sympathetic smile in return. “All we need to do is reprogram the mop spell like we did last year. I can do it easily.”

“Oh, thank you Telary,” the queen says, clutching his hand in hers. “That would do a lot to put my mind at ease.”

“So, as soon as we’re done doing that,” Sora suggests, “we can all take you to the Cornerstone chamber.”

“I can handle it just fine by myself,” Telary refutes determinately. “You and Azlyn get the queen to the chamber.” Suddenly, a hand appears at the wizard’s arm.

“I’m not letting you go alone while there’s Heartless in the castle, Tel,” Azlyn says, her tone leaving no room for argument. The pair share eye contact for a few seconds the same energy between them as back in Olympus flickering in the air for a moment.

“Okay,” Sora agrees, mentally arranging the division of tasks. “So Azlyn and Telary take the spell, and I take the queen to the audience chamber. Okay?”

“Sounds alright to me,” Azlyn says, already turning for the exit, pulling Telary along with her. “See you on the flip side.”

“Be careful!” Telary cautions Sora, looking from him to the queen with concern-narrowed eyes. “Don’t let anything happen to the queen, but make sure you take care of yourself too!”

With that they’re gone, off into the thick of Heartless infested territory.

Noticing Sora’s worried look, the queen lays a comforting hand on his forearm. When he looks down at her, she’s giving him a broad smile.

“They’ll be fine, Sora,” she assures him.

He nods, then throws out his hand in a wide gesture at the door. “Shall we, Your Majesty?”

Minnie actually giggles, hiding her mouth daintily underneath her hand. “Yes, Sora, let’s.”

“We’ll keep things together in here,” Chip volunteers, his brother nodding along obligingly.

Though the journey down the hall to the audience chamber is short, the way is also fraught with Heartless, each and every one of them single-mindedly advancing on Queen Minnie and her sworn protector.

It takes a lot of work with Sora’s Keyblade to keep Heartless off Her Majesty’s back, but luckily the queen has skills of her own. Sora beats down a Soldier and then turns to see the queen, hand outstretched, flinging forth an orb of pure light. The orb flies straight and true, impacting against a Soldier hard enough to knock it aside, then swinging around to attack a pair of Shadow until they expire. It brings to mind the shield the queen had created during the Fiendish Four attack, to block Megavolt’s deadly lightning.

Soon enough, they reach the door, the Heartless disappearing long enough to give the pair a moment to breathe.

“When the attack on the castle started, I made sure to seal off this room,” she explains, gesturing to the still-glowing field coating the massive blue door. Raising her hand, she commands the spell to break. With a flash, the magical barrier is gone, and the tiny door set into the base of the leftmost large one pops open. Minnie easily enters, but Sora finds himself having to duck.

The audience chamber is just as massive as Sora remembers, large enough to easily play a game of blitzball in. A long red carpet start at the entrance, leading all the way down to a small raised platform upon which two thrones, one for the king and one for the queen, sit. Not far behind that is the back wall of the chamber, a huge red banner with the black symbol of King Mickey emblazoned on it.

“Your Majesty!” Goofy, captain of the Disney Castle Royal Guard and Azlyn’s mentor, cries out happily upon seeing the queen. He’s dressed in his usual clothes, a mismatch of armored plates and an orange jumpsuit. Smiling, he hops off the platform and makes his way down the long carpet to the monarch and her escort. “And Sora too!”

“Hi there, Captain Goofy,” Sora says with a smile. “Good to see you again.”

“Does this mean Azlyn and Telary are here too?” Goofy asks the queen. She nods, and his smile only grows wider.

As if on cue, Azlyn and Telary race into the audience chamber, skidding to a halt as they pass through the small door.

“Time it!” Azlyn exclaims, pumping a fist in the air triumphantly. “That’s gotta be some kinda… Aaaargh!”

The knight’s boasting is cut short as Goofy reaches her, wrapping the girl up in a hug that lifts her straight off of her feet.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you again, Azlyn!” Goofy cries out happily, shaking his apprentice fondly.

“You too, Captain,” the blonde replies with a fond eye roll. After a moment, the big man puts her back down.

“Happy to see you too, Telary,” the captain says to the ginger wizard, nodding at him in a friendly manner. “And I just know Donald’ll be happy too!”

“I assume Donald is still in the chamber itself?” Minnie asks the Royal Guardsman, receiving a confirming nod. With that confirmed, she quickly makes her way to the throne platform, reaching beneath the king’s chair to flip the hidden switch there. With a groan, the platform moves aside to reveal the stairs down into the Cornerstone’s chamber.

“So, I guess you guys had no problems at all?” Sora says to Azlyn and Telary as they follow Minnie down into the chamber.

“I wish,” Azlyn sighs. “It’s all in the mops’ hands now. Or bristles or whatever.”

Minnie leads the party down into the Cornerstone of Light’s chamber, where the green orb, a bright light shining in the center of it, rings of light surrounding it like electrons whirling around an atom, hovers just above its white pedestal.

The rest of the chamber, which Sora remembers being big enough to rival the audience chamber for square-footage, is full of huge black thorns, jutting out of stalks that seem to twist around the entire perimeter of the room, leaving it feeling closed off and uncomfortable.

“Your Majesty!” Donald, the castle’s royal wizard, exclaims in much the same way Goofy had upon seeing the queen. The duck is dressed in his familiar blue wizard’s robe, the matching large hat that symbolizes his status perched on his head. “Nothing’s changed since you last checked, my queen.”

“Thank you for standing guard here, Donald,” Minnie thanks the duck magician.

“Well, who else woulda done it, Your Majesty?” Donald says good-naturedly, turning to give Azlyn and Telary a beaky smile. “After all, with these two off having their little adventures, we’ve got quite the understaffing problem!”

“Nice to see you too, Ducky,” Azlyn says with a smirk.

“Oh, dear,” Queen Minnie sighs, slowly approaching the Cornerstone. It’s different than Sora remembers, dimmer somehow. “Things have gotten even worse since I last checked.”

“What could’ve happened here, Your Majesty?” Sora asks, stepping to the queen’s side and ignoring the reunion between his friends and their mentors going on behind him. He’s happy that Azlyn and Telary can see their friends again, but he also can’t help but be jealous, still hungering for his own reunion.

Minnie sighs and shakes her head, the picture of sadness. “I truly have no idea, Sora. I looked at every book on the subject I could find in the library, but I didn’t find anything to explain it.”

“This can’t be natural,” Telary says, frowning at the still-darkening orb. “Not with all of these thorns around. But who would be powerful enough, or _evil_ enough, to do this?”

“I’ll bet it was those Organization jerks!” Azlyn suggests, scowling at the thought of the black-cloaked Nobodies causing trouble in her adopted home.

“Oh, really?”

The voice comes from nowhere, an imperious female voice that strikes a deep chord in the memories of everyone present in the chamber.

“No…” Sora whispers, his throat tightening with dread. “No, it can’t be…”

Suddenly, green flames burst into life before the Cornerstone, appearing so unexpectedly and spreading so wide that they force the entire group back several steps out of sheer fright.

After their brilliant moment of life, the flames crackle to a halt, leaving behind the form of a horned, jade-skinned woman in a red and purple robe. Seeing all of her enemies assembled so neatly before her, Maleficent smiles.

“You really think those pitiful fools could have done this working?” the witch scoffs, seeming very offended that she had not been at the top of the suspect list for this disruption of castle life. “Ha! No one else but I, the mistress of all…”

“Boring, long-winded monologues,” Azlyn interrupts, fixing her old adversary with a withering glare that almost matches the dark woman’s own. “Seriously, I thought being dead would shut this witch up, but I guess nothing can stop that mouth!”

“Heh, pot meet kettle,” Donald murmurs quietly.

“Yeah, why _aren’t_ you dead?” Sora asks the witch, one eyebrow quirked curiously. “I remember putting my Keyblade through your heart pretty well.”

“That matters not, you fool!” Maleficent snaps, her calm façade slipping for a brief moment. “What matters is that I live, and this castle will be mine!”

“That isn’t going to happen, Maleficent!” Minnie shouts out defiantly.

“Yeah!” Azlyn agrees, her shield arm already cocked back for a throw. Grunting, she hurls her weapon at the witch, only for the metal disc to fly straight through. It impacts against the Cornerstone’s pedestal and ricochets, slamming into the knight’s chest and sending her to the ground. Her arms flail out as she falls, and she ends up bringing Donald down with her.

Maleficent rolls her eyes at the whole mishap. “I see that my dear opponents haven’t changed in the slightest. That’s just as well, I suppose.” Turning, the witch reaches for the Cornerstone, only to encounter an invisible barrier that repels her with a flash of light. As she draws her hand away, Sora notices it shaking, almost trembling.

“Ha!” the Keybearer laughs, bringing Maleficent’s attention back around to him and his group. “Looks like your plan isn’t as great as you thought, huh?”

“On the contrary, you simple boy,” the jade-skinned woman replies, shaking her head almost disappointedly, “I _will_ acquire this place for my own. Of course, it is a bit… bright for my tastes, I think. Seems to me that it all needs my own personal touch of Darkness!”

“You’d better stop right now, if you know what’s good for you!” Minnie defiantly declares, shaking her fist at the witch.

“How frightening,” she replies, sounding distinctly unimpressed. “Very well, I promise that I shall stop. As soon as this castle belongs to me!” Letting out a loud, nearly manic laugh, Maleficent once more summons her green flames, engulfing her in their fire and smoke. When they are gone, so too is Maleficent.

“What a _hag_!” Sora declares, spitting disrespectfully upon the spot Maleficent had just occupied. Behind him, Azlyn and Donald make noises of agreement.

“The Cornerstone will keep her at bay, right Your Majesty?” Telary nervously asks the queen.

She can only frown in response. “I honestly haven’t a clue,” she sighs, hanging her head, utter defeat in her voice. “No book in the entire library offered any sort of explanation, and I’m afraid I’m no expert on the Cornerstone myself. I mostly just know the lore.”

“Is there anybody who might know more?” Sora asks, wracking his brain for a solution. “I mean, there’s gotta be a kind of, er, _expert_ on this thing?”

Minnie’s head rises, a thoughtful expression replacing the defeated one that seemed stuck to her face. “You know, there just might be.”

“Who?” Donald asks.

“Merlin,” Minnie answers confidently. “Merlin knows everything there is to know about the Cornerstone, more than any book would.”

“But, Your Majesty, we ain’t seen Merlin in a long time,” Goofy points out. “Nearly a year, in fact. We don’t got a clue where he is.”

“Hollow Bastion!” Telary chimes in, smiling at his revelation. “He’s working with the Restoration Committee in Hollow Bastion.”

“That’s right!” Sora agrees, happily pointing at his older friend. “I forgot, because we didn’t actually see him, but we went to his house!”

“Oh, this is wonderful news!” Minnie exclaims. “Would you three mind going to fetch him? It could really help us!”

“Sure thing, Your Majesty,” Sora says, nodding his agreement to the monarch. “With our warp Gummi, we can be there and back in a flash.”

“You can count on us Your Majesty,” Azlyn says to Minnie, who smiles up at the knight with boundless faith.

Without wasting another second, Telary keys up the teleporter and sends the trio back to the Gummi ship.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora starts moving before the teleporter’s flash even has time to fade, looking around Merlin’s house to see if the old wizard is home. Unfortunately, the whole place is empty.

“Crap!” Azlyn swears, scrunching up her face in anger and disappointment. “How come nobody is ever home when ya need ‘em?”

“He could be anywhere, and this town is a big place,” Telary sighs, turning and exiting the house. In the back of his mind, he notes with a certain strangeness that he’s come to his real homeworld in an attempt to save the one that adopted him.

“Who could be anywhere?” asks a familiar voice. Looking up, the trio see Phineas and Ferb walking up the street.

The whole group starts as they see what’s coming up behind the kids: a large, mechanical dog that’s as big as any of the houses in the borough. It slowly follows the boys with its head down, panting as much as any real dog would.

“What is that?” Azlyn asks the boys, stepping away from the mechanical mutt.

“Oh, just something we’re working on,” Phineas says with a shrug. Ferb continues his trademark silent staring.

“Anyway,” Telary says, tearing his eyes away from the boys’ creation, “we’re looking for Merlin, the wizard. Have you seen him?”

Phineas nods easily. “Yeah, I think he’s at the castle. Now that the town’s mostly fixed up, the committee’s started looking at its renovations. Ferb and I are in charge of revamping the lift system.” At that last part, the boy smiles broadly.

“Can you take us to him?” Azlyn asks, though it comes out sounding more like a command. “It’s really important.”

“Sure thing!” Turning to the robo-dog, Phineas lets out a loud whistle, the dog leaning down on its knees in reply. “Get on, and we’ll take you!”

Any reluctance at riding on the back of a mechanical dog built by a couple of pre-teens is superseded by the urgency of the situation, and the group scrambles on with haste. As soon as all passengers are secured, the dog takes off, each stride long and bounding.

They pass through several more residential districts, passing by countless people who stop what they’re doing to stare up at the odd sight.

“Hey, it’s our sister!” Phineas calls out as the ride passes through another small shopping district. Smiling, the redheaded boy points down to a girl with the same hair color dressed in a red shirt and white skirt, standing before a fruit stall. “Hi Candace!”

“Phineas!” the girl shrieks in a shrill voice, turning quickly to a middle-aged woman who is obviously her mother. “Mom, mom, look, look!”

“Just a second, Candace,” Linda Flynn-Fletcher sighs, inspecting an apple closely. Satisfied with her pick, she turns to see what her daughter is making such a fuss about. Looking about, all she sees is the same market street she had before. “What is it? What happened?”

Candace just sighs, pretty much used to the routine by now.

After minutes that seem far too long to the robo-dog riders, they finally arrive in an area that seems full to the brim with construction equipment, men and women in bright uniforms bustling about. It isn’t long until they reach a garden at the bottom of a massive staircase, the Hollow Bastion citadel looming high above them.

The garden is obviously not finished yet, and dirt is piled high everywhere as the gardeners go about their work, either clearing away dead plants or preparing to plant new ones. There are several levels, the highest being the most well-restored, bright flowers surrounding the steel gates at the bottom of the castle stairs.

The ride doesn’t pause for a moment, continuing up the stairs, headed straight for the top. After another few moments, the group arrives.

The place is massive, a large square suspended over a deep chasm, mists swirling and obscuring its depths. The square’s floor is done in red brick, though as it continues on towards Hollow Bastion’s main doors more and more have been pulled out, ready to be replaced by the workmen.

The arrival of a giant robot dog is nigh impossible to ignore, so by the time the group screeches to a halt in front of them, Leon and Merlin are prepared.

“Merlin, Merlin!” Azlyn cries out, sliding off the dog’s back. She miscalculates the friction, however, and ends up sliding straight off to land hard on the brick ground.

“Well, if it isn’t Sora, Azlyn, and Telary!” Merlin says happily, smiling beneath his long bristly beard. The wizened old magician is dressed in his usual blue robe, trademark matching conical hat drooping atop his head. “I say, I was most distressed to hear that you visited and I missed you.”

“Good to see you again, Merlin,” Sora greets his old acquaintance cheerily. “You too Leon. What’s happening?”

“Restoration work, same as always,” the dour man answers. “With most of the town in better shape, we’ve started really focusing on the castle area.”

“It’s really amazing how fast things are coming along,” Sora marvels, looking up at the citadel. As he does, a slight shudder courses through him, rather unexpectedly. It seems that the dark feelings and memories of the events that occurred in this keep have yet to fade.

“Well,” Leon sighs exasperatedly, “LeBlanc has this ridiculous idea to have a ball, so…”

Sora perks up at that. “A ball? You mean like a dance? That might be fun!”

Leon rolls his eyes cynically. “Says you. Personally, I think LeBlanc is just…”

“EXCUSE ME!” Azlyn yells at the top of her lungs, interrupting the idle chit chat. Everyone working on the castle courtyard stops and stares at the knight. But, she only has eyes for Merlin. “But we need Merlin’s help! Disney Castle is in danger! Maleficent did something to the Cornerstone of Light!”

Merlin’s bushy white eyebrows rocket upward at the mention of an endangered Cornerstone. “Is that so? Maleficent, you say?”

“Yeah, it’s really bad,” Azlyn continues, pausing only briefly for a breath. “Heartless are running around the halls, and there’s sharp thorns all over the chamber, and…”

A puff of smoke, carefully constructed to encircle the trio and Merlin but none else, suddenly appears, obscuring visibility for a moment.

Azlyn doesn’t seem to notice, just continuing on and on with her rant. “And I guess Maleficent’s not dead, but there’s something weird about her ‘cause my shield went right through her…”

“Perhaps,” Merlin interrupts with a little clearing of his throat, “I had better just see for myself, hm?”

Looking around, the trio realize that they are once again within the Cornerstone chamber. Queen Minnie turns from her position at the Cornerstone pedestal and looks at them with an acute look of shock.

“Crazy wizard magic,” Azlyn mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest huffily.

Merlin steps up beside Minnie, scratching at his bearded chin as he squints through his glasses at Disney Castle’s endangered artifact. Slowly, he steps around the orb, examining it from every angle. He even summons a stethoscope, placing it against the Cornerstone and frowning as he listens.

“Well, what’s wrong with it?” Donald asks, already impatient from having to wait so long for the old wizard’s arrival. “Does it just need new batteries, or what?”

Merlin clicks his tongue and shakes his head, obviously disheartened by what he’s observed. “Oh, this is _very_ serious, I fear. Serious indeed.”

“So, you know what’s going on?” Telary asks hopefully.

“Yes, I certainly do,” Merlin replies, still looking upset. Reaching into his left sleeve, the old man pulls out a long, smooth wooden stick. His wand. Turning away from the group, he flicks his wrist.

There’s a puff of smoke a few feet away, and when it clears away a white doorway stands revealed. Both the double doors and the arch above gleam with a silvery light.

“What’s that?” Sora inquires curiously.

“That, my boy, is a door to a very special world,” Merlin (kind of) explains. “I believe that the world it connects to is the source of your troubles?”

“How so?” Telary asks.

Merlin sighs, purposefully avoiding the young magician’s gaze. “It’s all a bit difficult to explain, but rest assured that there are actions going on within that world that are having a dire effect on this one. Of that I am certain.”

“Wow,” Azlyn says, nodding appreciatively. “I take back what I said about your magic, Merlin, you really delivered.” Confidently, the knight strides toward the door. “I guess now all we’ve gotta do is…”

“Not so fast, young lady!” Merlin interrupts, drawing all eyes to him once again. “I have not yet explained the problem.”

“She’s sorry,” Telary apologizes on his counterpart’s behalf. “Sometimes she just gets excited…”

“I can apologize for myself, thanks,” the knight snaps at her partner, actually getting the older boy to jump at the words and tone.

“The perpetrators doing harm in that world must be stopped, of course, but there is more,” Merlin continues. “Somewhere in that world is a door identical to this one. It is by utilizing that door that your enemies are able to work their dark will, and so Sora must close it with his Keyblade.”

“No problem,” Sora says with a nonchalant shrug. “Closing doors _is_ kinda my game, y’know.”

“And besides, this time you’ll have me and Goofy to back you kids up!” Donald declares, making his way for the door.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Donald,” Merlin says. The mallard magician stops dead in his tracks, turning to look at Merlin with a crestfallen expression. “Only Sora, Azlyn, and Telary must be allowed to enter the world beyond this door. If you or Goofy were to go along, things could possibly get even worse.”

“What kind of world is this anyway?” Azlyn demands, glaring at Merlin with her hands on her hips.

“A very special one, as I’ve said,” Merlin half-answers. “A world that, by its very nature, could tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation, or…”

“Things will only get worse,” Azlyn sighs, rolling her eyes at all the rules she’s being made to follow on this mission.

“So, stop the bad guys, seal the door, don’t get tempted,” Sora lists the objectives on the fingers of one hand. He shrugs. “Easy.”

“I hope so,” Merlin says, his voice ominous as anything. “I truly hope so.”


	12. Way Back When

When the light they had stepped into finally fades, the trio find themselves in a brave new world.

Not a very colorful one, however.

“What the heck?” Azlyn exclaims as she looks around the area the door had led the group through to. They’re standing on a dusty hill, surrounded on all sides by fields that seem to extend for miles in several direction, paths winding through them. In the middle of the hill, the Cornerstone of Light rests, or at least something that very much resembles the Cornerstone does. A signpost near a path away from the hill reads **Pier** in bold, painted on letters.

Oh, and every last thing, right down to Sora, Azlyn, and Telary themselves, is monochrome.

All around the trio, in the landscape of whatever world they’ve stumbled into on their quest to save Disney Castle, black and white mingle into a steady grey. Some grey areas are lighter and darker, giving the illusion of colors if one could just use their imagination.

“We sure aren’t in Disney Castle anymore,” Sora says, taking it all in.

“This place seems familiar though, I have to say,” Telary chimes in, scratching his head. His clothes have somehow changed in the passage of one world to the next, becoming grey overalls kept up by suspenders over each shoulder, and a white t-shirt underneath. He looks more like a farmer than a wizard now, despite the white gloves now covering his hands. “It’s like, I don’t know, something I saw in a picture somewhere.”

“There is something about this place,” Azlyn agrees. Her outfit has changed as well, with her skirt now billowing out further than before, black with white polka dots. She wears a grey blazer over a white blouse, and her gauntlets have become white gloves. Her boots are low-sitting heels, and a wide brimmed hat rests on her head as well, artificial berries of some kind tucked where hat meets brim. She looks every inch a young lady attending church. “It’s got me in horrible looking clothes!”

“Not gonna argue with you there,” Sora agreed, just wearing a white shirt with grey shorts and a grey jacket, like a simplified version of his clothes during the first journey. Gloves cover his hands too, for whatever reason. “And what’s with these gloves? They almost feel like a part of my hands!” He tries to pull his right hand glove off, but it only stretches out nearly a foot before snapping back into place.

“So I guess it’s not only for Disney Castle’s sake that we must undertake this mission,” Telary says wearily, “but for the sake of fashion as well.”

“Agreed,” Azlyn says with a nod. “But where do we start?”

“I think that this is the Cornerstone,” Sora suggests, approaching the glowing ball of light resting on several wooden posts at the crest of the small hill. “Somehow. Maybe.”

“Maybe there’s some kind of empathetic link between the Cornerstone in the castle and this one here,” Telary posits, circling around the alleged Cornerstone.

“How do you mean?” Azlyn asks, squinting harder at the object in question, as if that will reveal its secrets to her.

“Well, I guess I mean that whatever happens to the Cornerstone here also affects the one protecting the castle,” Telary explains, finishing his rotation and standing with his partners. “So it would be my guess that Maleficent has agents in this world who are attacking this Cornerstone, in order to make the other one more vulnerable.”

“Agents like Pete?” Sora asks, cocking his head as something across the hill catches his eye.

“I guess,” Telary says, running his hands over the free-floating Cornerstone. “What makes you say that?”

“Because he’s right over there!” the Keyblade wielder explains, pointing across the hill to the path marked by the **Pier** sign.

Telary spins around, hand already reaching for where his staff is stored in one of the overlarge pockets of his overalls. When he rests, he finds himself staring down a large black cat wearing an outfit similar to his, though one of the straps is over the shoulder and there’s no white shirt underneath to protect the cat’s modesty. But he certainly looks like the Pete the trio all know and hate, even underneath a large cylindrical cap and without color.

“Easiest quest ever!” Azlyn exclaims with a fierce grin, glad that she’s about to be able to return to a place where her wardrobe makes sense. “Let’s get that cat!”

“Hey, youse!” Pete calls out, running across the hill towards the party in lurches that look more like stumbling than anything else. “Youse over there! I gotsa question for youse guys!”

“Oh wow, he’s coming right to us,” Sora notes with incredulity. “I know the guy’s stupid, but…”

“Like I was just saying, I gots a question fer the three of yas,” Pete repeats, stopping his run in front of the trio. He looks more like he’s just run a marathon than a few yards across a hill. “Something rotten is going around about these parts, so’s I wants ta know: Have you three seen any bad lookin’ guys ‘round here?”

This throws all three members of the trio. Doesn’t Pete remember who they are? Bereft of any other options, all three point straight out, right into the fat cat’s face.

“D’oh!” Pete exclaims, stumbling backwards, a look of comical surprise crossing his face. “Hey now, what’s the big idea here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, you overgrown housecat!” Azlyn replies, raising gloved fists.

“Yeah,” Sora chimes in, stepping past an increasingly more confused Telary, his Keyblade in hand. “Drop the act, we know what’s going on here!”

“Well, not really,” Telary mutters behind him, earning a glare. The wizard puts his hands up defensively in response. “Just saying.”

“Coming to think about it, I think I _do_ spot some bad guys on this here hill!” Pete exclaims, settling back into a fighting stance. “And it’s _you three_!”

“I don’t care if you really don’t know who we are at this point!” Azlyn rages, backing into a fighting stance. Sora takes his own stance beside her, but Telary hangs back, still feeling that something is off, but unable to put his finger on exactly what it is. “We’re taking you on, tubby!”

“You’re going down!” Sora agrees.

“Well, if it’s a fight you want,” Pete says, pounding his fists together to punctuate his anger, “then you’re darn well gonna get a fight!

The cat charges towards Sora and Azlyn, who are both able to dodge easily. Pete tries to arrest his momentum by digging his heels into the dirt ground, but ends up tripping over his own two feet and sending himself rolling down the hill.

“Well, he’s certainly forgotten how to fight,” Sora chuckles smugly, relaxing with one hand on his hip.

“Please,” Azlyn says with a dismissive scoff, “he’s never known how to fight!”

Across the way, Pete stands once again, a little dusty but nevertheless just as determined. “Laugh at me, will ya, you pipsqueaks? I’ll give you something to laugh about!” Snorting honest to goodness steam from his nostrils, he charges back up the hill with his fists swinging madly in a desperate windmill.

Both Sora and Azlyn find the image hilarious, and nearly keel over laughing, Sora grasping his stomach with his non-Keyblade hand. This is not so great as a strategy, however, as there’s nothing comical about being charged into full-force by a 200-pound cat with a grudge.

It seems to be Sora and Azlyn’s turn to go flying this time, landing with great force at the bottom of the hill.

Telary watches from the sidelines as his companions rise once again, dusting themselves off and giving venomous looks to Pete, who gloats with both hands on his hips. Why hasn’t Pete summoned the Heartless to do his fighting for him, like he had in the past? Telary knows that there’s something wrong, some tiny detail just out of his grasp that will explain everything, from where they are, to why Pete seems not to remember any of them, and how the Cornerstone on this hill and the one that’s supposed to protect the castle are related. He just can’t figure it out!

Pete’s laughter pulls the wizard out of his own thoughts for a moment, and he looks over to the cat once more, this time focusing on something just past him, a glossy billboard one would have to be an idiot to miss. And it is then he realizes what he’s been missing all along.

Suddenly, everything makes sense.

“That’s it, Pete,” Azlyn is saying, readying herself for combat once more. “We let you off easy the first time, and then you managed a lucky strike. But I promise you, it won’t happen again!”

“Yeah, here comes your butt-whippin’!” Sora adds vindictively.

Seeing his opponents looking so strong and determined immediately shocks Pete out of his gloating. One look at their eyes and he begins backing up slowly.

“Aw, forget youse guys!” the cat yells indignantly at the pair. “I gots better things to do than walloping youse. I gotta get my steamboat back!” With a final scowl, Pete runs off huffily towards the pier.

“Let’s get him!” Azlyn proclaims like a beastmaster kicking off a hunt. She and Sora begin pursuit, but stop short as Telary steps in front of them.

“Not so fast!” the wizard declares, holding his hands out to halt his friends’ pursuit.

“Outta the way, Tel!” Azlyn commands, narrowing her eyes at her obstructing friend. “We’ve gotta teach Pete a lesson.”

“No, Azlyn, we don’t,” Telary gently corrects his counterpart, shaking his head slowly. “Because you see, guys, that’s not Pete! Well, not technically.”

“What do you mean?” Sora asks, dismissing his weapon and crossing his arms. “Of course it’s him! The big oaf even said so!”

“Like I said,” Telary explains once more, “he’s not _technically_ Pete.”

“So what, he’s some kind of clone?” Azlyn asks, eyebrows furrowing. “Does he have a twin brother or something?”

“No, that’s not it,” Telary denies, moving down the hill and gesturing for his friends to follow. “Other than not recognizing you, did either of you notice anything odd about Pete?”

“Uh, I don’t think… Oh!” Azlyn exclaims as she finally gets the right idea. “He didn’t summon any Heartless, or even talk about Maleficent at all!”

“Exactly!” Telary congratulates his companion. “Pete didn’t summon any Heartless, because he can’t. He doesn’t know how!”

“So Pete has some kind of amnesia?” Sora asks, still confused. “Were his memories messed with? Did _he_ spend some time in a weird white pod in the basement of an abandoned mansion too?”

“Oh no, dear Sora, Pete’s memories are just fine,” Telary answers with smile and a bit of a gloating tone. “It’s just that he hasn’t made any of the ones we or the Heartless would feature in.”

“What?”

“That Pete, the Pete you two just fought, is the exact same Pete we all know and disrespect,” the mage finishes, gesturing upwards for the grand finale of his explanation.

The other two follow the path of his hand upwards, their eyes coming to rest on a large sign displayed for anyone looking to see.

 **Cornerstone Hill** , the billboard reads in blocky white letters set against a grey background. **Future site of Disney Castle!**

“He just doesn’t know it yet!”

“So that means…” Azlyn begins, too stunned to complete the sentence.

“We’re in the past!” Sora finishes, his mouth dropping open in awe.

Timeless River

“That’s correct,” Telary confirms, still obviously a bit smug about being the first to accurately deduce the situation. “At least fifty years or so, if I remember Master Donald’s history lessons correctly. And trust me, I do.”

“So that’s where I remember all of this from,” Azlyn says, nodding slowly as she examines the area with new eyes. “History lessons! I guess I owe you an apology for telling you all that book stuff was a waste of time, Tel.”

“You’re forgiven,” Telary says with a gracious shrug.

“Speaking of apologies,” Sora adds, looking sheepish now, “I think we owe one to Pete for, y’know, threatening him. And then carrying out said threat.”

“Eh,” Azlyn says dismissively, but a quick glare from Telary changes her tune fast. She sighs deeply, throwing up her hands in surrender. “Fine, let’s go tell our archenemy we’re sorry.”

“Come on, he went down to the pier,” Telary says, leading the way with confidence.

Sora and Azlyn exchange an amused look with one another before following.

“So, how long are we gonna let him milk this?” Sora asks, bemused at Telary’s new attitude.

“I figure we give him at least a few minutes,” Azlyn suggests, her smile even bigger than the Keyblade wielder’s. “He does get so few chances to take charge.”

“But when he does, he sure goes for it with gusto,” Sora notes. “The confidence actually looks really good on him, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees, her voice drifting into a semi-dreamy tone. Looking up ahead, she smiles. “It sure does.”

Sora looks from the knight to the wizard, his brow furrowing in thought. He recognizes something in Azlyn’s eyes at the moment, a look that seems all too familiar…

“Oh, wow,” the Keybearer says quietly, though Azlyn hears him and turns to look at him. After a moment he swivels his head back to meet her gaze. “You _like_ Telary!”

“Excuse me?” Azlyn says, sputtering nervously for a moment. “What are you talking about, I do _not_! He’s… I mean, Telary is my best friend, and…”

“I had a best friend once,” Sora reminds the girl. “And I thought we were just friends, but as it turned out, there was something else going on.”

Azlyn scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Yes, we’re all aware of you and Riku’s great unspoken love story…”

Sora pushes at Azlyn’s arm with an offended noise, momentarily throwing her off balance. She gives him a warning glare, but the Keybearer just ignores it.

“I _meant_ Kairi!” he clarifies, rolling his eyes. “Anyway…”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Azlyn cuts the boy off angrily, shoving him as hard as he had her, “I do not like Telary like that, and that’s final.”

“Okay,” Sora sighs, his eyes rolling disbelievingly. “If that’s the story you’re going with…”

“It’s not a _story_ , idiot,” Azlyn says, giving her friend another hard shove. “It’s the truth, and that’s all I’m saying about it!”

Sora’s smirk does not die down, actually becoming more pronounced if anything. “Azlyn and Telary, sittin’ in a tree…”

Azlyn doesn’t even waste time with words, launching herself at Sora and tackling him to the ground. The boy yelps frightfully, throwing his arms in front of his face to block Azlyn’s blows. They’re barely at a quarter of her normal strength, but they still hurt.

Telary, who so far has been buoyed enough by his command of the situation to not even hear his companions’ conversation, can’t help but notice the tussle. Sighing loudly, the wizard moves forward and pulls Azlyn off of Sora, setting her on her feet beside him. Groaning, Sora stands up and wipes dirt off his clothes.

“What happened here?” Teary demands, his stern glare flickering from one to the other. Beside him, Azlyn’s look at Sora is twice as threatening.

“Azlyn,” Sora begins, earning an intensifying of the already concentrated glare, “was just wondering if she could use her knowledge of the future to get rich.”

Telary’s mouth drops open. “No, no, NO! There is to be absolutely no changing of the past!”

“Why not?” Sora asks. “We could convince Pete to never become a bad guy, and then maybe…”

“Exactly,” Telary interrupts. “ _Maybe_. The thing is, we have no idea what exactly our actions here in the past could do to affect the future. It’s a wonder that tampering with the Cornerstone in this part of the timeline did as little damage as it did. If we make a wrong move here, or change anything drastically, everything as we know it could cease to exist. Including us!”

“You’re right,” Azlyn says, a rare humbleness in her voice. “I guess I wasn’t thinking. I promise not to do anything that could cause damage to the future.” When Telary turns back down the path, the knight gives Sora one last death glare before following along.

“Well, this just got way more interesting,” the Keybearer mutters to himself.

The group get moving again, soon reaching a small beach with a loading dock, complete with an old-fashioned style crane that stretches a ways over the water. The one place to tie up a vessel is empty, and Pete stands near it, kicking it absentmindedly, a look of anger and disgust on his face.

“Hey there!” Sora calls out, waving to get the cat’s attention. “Pete, over here!”

The look on Pete’s face as the trio approach is not a pleasant one. In fact, the mere sight causes him to scowl menacingly, looking almost like the future version of himself.

“Oh, not youse guys again!” he moans, stalking forward. “I don’t know what I did to earn a beef with you, but I’ll tell ya right now, if it’s a fight you be wantin’, then that’s what I’m gonna give yas!”

“No, Pete, wait…” Telary begins, but a blow from Pete’s fist interrupts his explanation. The mage stumbles back, clutching his face as dark grey blood begins to ooze from his nose onto the sand of the beach. “Ow!”

“Okay,” Sora say, noticing a look of sheer blind rage slowly creeping over Azlyn’s face, “I guess we should have seen that coming. But we came here to…”

“Nobody hurts Telary like that!” Azlyn roars, cutting off Sora’s attempt to apologize. “And future or no future, I’m gonna get you for that!”

“Bring it on, missy!” Pete yells back, defiantly taking up a fighting stance, “I usually don’t like hittin’ ladies, but in your case I’m prepared to make an exception!”

“No, guys, please…!” Sora pleads in an attempt to defuse the situation, but it’s futile. It seems to be a fight they both want, and it’s a fight they’re going to get.

Until a lightning bolt touches down from the skies above, landing smack in the middle of the two combatants. Azlyn backs up in shock, but Pete is too confused by the magic to properly react, and so takes the brunt of the small shockwave created when the bolt hits the ground. He tumbles backwards, landing on his back with a loud smack. It appears that his spine has sustained a direct hit from one of the two small stairs that led up to the wooden pier.

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” The cat exclaims as he hits, his yowl of pain garnering sympathetic looks from each of the trio, even Azlyn, who is still trying to recover from the surprise lightning bolt. “MY BACK!”

“Ooh, sorry,” Telary apologizes as he rises, using his staff to assist himself into a standing position, one hand still trying to quench the trickle of blood from his nose. “I may have misjudged the situation there.”

“You think?” Sora asks, hands on hips. “Talk about changing the future, you broke his back!”

“It was either that or let Azlyn break his face!” the mage argues in his defense. “And she would’ve too! So really, I may have just saved the future, thank you very much!”

“Oh boy, that smarts!” Pete grumbles, his voice burdened by pain. He attempts to rise, but his back cracks loudly and he stumbles, falling back onto his butt.

“Look, I’m really very sorry about that lightning bolt,” Telary apologizes, the first any of the trio has been able to complete. “I didn’t expect that it would do all that damage. And I’m sure that my friend here is very sorry that she lost control of her temper.” He turns back to face Azlyn, a pleading look on his face. “Right?”

“Yeah, sure,” the knight mumbles, smoothing out her skirt so she can avoid eye contact with anyone. “I shouldn’t have yelled like that.”

“Not very ladylike, was it?” Sora teases.

“Do you wanna be next?” Azlyn asked menacingly, happy to make eye contact if it’s a means to enhance threats. Sora wisely takes several steps backward.

“Well, the apology’s nice, but it don’t fix my back!” Pete says, rubbing the sore spot. “And it sure doesn’t help me get my steamboat back from the punk what took it.”

“I may actually be able to help with the first thing,” Telary says, turning to Azlyn. “Toss me a potion, will you?”

“What?” Azlyn asks, angrily. “Why should I…?”

Telary just raises his eyebrows at her, nodding at Pete. Sighing, she reaches into her pouch and throws a vial of green liquid at the mage, who catches and hands it off to the prostrate Pete.

The cat gratefully takes the vial and knocks it back. There’s a slight green glow as the liquid takes its effect, and suddenly the look on his face lightens.

“That ain’t half bad, besides!” he says with a hearty chuckled, rising back to his feet. “I feel better already. Say, you wouldn’t happen to have a lot o’ these drinks that need shippin’, do ya? ‘Cause I can give youse a deal on my steamboat services…”

“I thought you had your boat stolen?” Sora points out. Pete’s face falls as he remembers his rotten situation.

“Oh yeah,” the cat sighs. “I felt so good for a second there I plum forgot about my troubles!”

“Who do you think would take your steam boat?” Telary asks. “Do you have any rivals, or enemies?”

“Oh, no rivals, not really,” Pete explains, scratching his head. “I’m kinda the only game in town when it comes to steamboatin’. But enemies, well… There is somebody, but there ain’t no way he’d be tricky enough. Or at least motivated enough.”

“Who?” Sora asks. “People can surprise you with their deviousness sometimes, y’know.”

“Oh, not this punk,” Pete argues, dismissing Sora’s point with a wave of his hand. “Only thing that he could do to surprise ol’ Captain Pete would be to show up for work on time.”

“Still, maybe you should give us a name,” Telary suggests. “Just in case we run into him, he could answer some questions.”

“Sounds right enough,” Pete relents, shrugging. “The guy in question is my little cabin boy. Goes by the name of Mickey. Mickey Mouse.”

“The King?” Azlyn bursts out, only to have Sora’s hand slapped over her mouth.

“What was that about a king?” Pete asks, his face scrunching up in a confused expression.

“Oh, she didn’t say anything about a king,” Sora covers, keeping his hand fixed over the knight’s mouth. “She said _sting_. There must have been a bee or something. She’s real scared of little, uh, critters like that.”

“Not surprisin’, fer a woman,” Pete snorts derisively, earning back some enmity from the still gagged Azlyn.

“So, Mickey Mouse is your cabin boy,” Telary repeats, getting used to the idea of someone he reveres so well being in such a lowly position. He should have remembered that detail, though, from his history lessons. Is something about this world interfering with his knowledge of the past? “And you’re sure he wouldn’t take your steamboat?”

“Well, not entirely, but I more or less trust the little punk,” Pete says with a lazy shrug. “At least enough to know not to steal from me if he wants to keep his pathetic little job! No, I’m sure there’s somebody else. I just don’t know who!”

“Well, rest assured Captain, we’ll do our best to find out who’s responsible,” Telary assures the gruff boatman. “You should probably stay here and, uh, take care of your back.”

“Oh, well it seems to be fine after ya gave me that there green drink!” Pete says with a shrug. To demonstrate, he stretches out the muscles of his back in a roll. His point is acutely not proven, however, as his spine lets out a loud crack that immediately sends him back to the ground.

“Just take it easy and we’ll handle the rest, okay?” Sora assures the injured captain.

“Wouldn’t want your injury to ruin your entire future,” Azlyn adds faux sweetly. “That would just tear us apart.”

The trio begin to make their way back to the Cornerstone, but something nags at Sora’s mind. More than working to help one of his enemies.

“What about that door we’re supposed to find?” he asks Telary, who has assumed command of this endeavor. “I get that we should help Pete out, but…”

“But nothin’,” Azlyn scoffs. “Whether we’ve unfairly attacked the captain or not, our first mission is still to find the door and seal it. And if we happen to find Pete’s boat while we’re at it, then it’ll just be a bonus.”

Sora squirms a bit internally, the very thought of going back on his word stirring up all sorts of unpleasant emotions.

“Well, I don’t know about _that_ …” he begins, the discomfort he feels inside coming out alongside every word.

“Uh, guys,” Telary interrupts, drawing the attention of his companions back up to him. “I think something’s going on at the hill.”

Sure enough, a crowd of the river’s anthropomorphic residents crow around a spot on the far side of the hill. Chickens and horses stand side by side with pigs and a wolf, all jockeying for a better position to see whatever it is they’ve found.

Luckily for the trio, Azlyn is perfectly willing to pull out every last dirty trick she knows for wading through a crowd, throwing elbows left and right, her shoulders swinging to make a wide berth for her and her companions.

When they reach the front of the crowd, leaving behind several rather upset citizens that don’t seem willing to accept Telary’s many apologies, they find something truly odd: what appears to be a window, floating peacefully in midair. The pane is covered by a thick curtain, and a long rope hangs off its side.

“What is that thing?” Sora asks, frowning as he examines the odd window from every angle he can.

“Well, we don’t rightly know,” a tall horse wearing a threadbare vest with a large collar strung around his neck says with a confused shrug. “That’s why we all came to stare at it, y’see. Starin’ at strange things is somethin’ of a local pastime.”

“We thought that if we put a little pressure on it, then it might get embarrassed enough to spill its secrets,” chimes in a large hen with a bonnet atop her head. “That’s how we deal with most of the newcomers around here.”

“Uh, have you tried pulling the rope?” Azlyn inquires like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“You mean _touch_ that devil thing?” a dainty cow woman in a skirt says with obvious distaste. “We’ve no idea where it’s been, you silly girl!”

“Well, if you cowards won’t use your common sense,” Azlyn declares, “then I will!” With a defiant huff at the riverfolk, the knight steps forward and grabs the rope hanging off the window’s side, drawing a gasp from the crowd. Except Sora, who is waiting with increasing fascination to see what will happen, and Telary, who just hopes that this isn’t going to cause some sort of time paradox that threatens continuum stability.

Azlyn gives the dangling rope a mighty pull, and almost instantaneously the strange object reacts, the velvet curtain covering most of it sliding away, revealing a silvery screen. The gathered crowd begins to “ooh” and “aah”, even as the screen begins to light up…

_For a moment, all that is visible is Cornerstone Hill at midday, a tranquil scene of natural beauty._

_Until suddenly there appears a door from a burst of silvery light. After a moment the door opens, a small cohort of Heartless emerging with clear ill intent. The group clusters together and turns to look back at their door, all waiting patiently for something._

_“Now, you cause all the trouble ya want,” says a voice from beyond the magical doorway, distinct and yet not quite recognizable. “Make as much ruckus as ya can while I gets my ol’ boat. That way, everybody’ll be so focused on you, I can slip right in and make my life great again!”_

_The screen flashes white once more, but not before the Heartless turn from their instructor beyond the door and begin to spread, small groups splitting up and scampering down different paths._

“What in heaven’s name was _that_?” Clara Cluck cries out in alarm, clutching her wingtips to her ample breast. “It looked like the hill, but that door came out of nowhere!”

“And those little fellers that ran outta there!” Horace Horsecollar chimes in. “Seemed like they ran off all over the place, but I ain’t seen a one of ‘em!”

“It looks like they ran all over the place,” Sora comments, scratching his head idly. “Those Heartless could be anywhere!”

“Maybe this thing knows more!” Azlyn suggests, once again taking the curtained window’s rope in her hand. She gives it a hard tug, but this time the curtain does not part, nor does the odd contraption even move, instead remaining hovering slightly in midair.

Screwing her face up, Azlyn takes the rope in both hands and gives it a hard yank, putting as much muscle as she can behind the pull. Still nothing happens, and her scowl only deepens.

“Okay, Azlyn, that’s enough…” Telary says. Azlyn does not, however, seem inclined to listen to her counterpart, and instead starts giving the rope yank after yank, grunting and huffing as she pulls at it with increasing strength and fury, so much so that the window begins to rock.

“Azlyn, seriously,” Sora tries to caution the knight, but the words fall on deaf ears as she wrenches the rope ever harder, the window now rocking back and forth with gusto.

Still not heeding the boys’ warnings, Azlyn grits her teeth and gathers strength for one last pull. Opening her mouth and unleashing a defiant cry that actually sends the anthropomorphic crowd backpedaling away, she gives the rope her mightiest yank of all.

Only this time, the rope yanks back.

Azlyn is completely unprepared for the cord she has so steady a grip on suddenly turning on her, rearing back like a stallion pushed too far. With a helpless yelp, the girl flies up into the air, her momentum bringing her around to land straddling the top of the window’s frame.

As soon as Azlyn is secured, the window takes off, zipping across the hill and down a path with no signpost beside it, leading her away into obscurity.

“Azlyn!” Telary and Sora cry out at the same time, both boys already breaking into a full on sprint to pursue their runaway comrade.

“Well, that was weird,” Horace comments to the crowd as they watch the strange trio no one had ever seen before disappear down the dirt path.

“Lousy kids,” squawks a small, short-tempered duck near the back, already walking away with his head shaking. “Up to no good, the lot of ‘em!”

Back on the trail of the runaway window, Sora and Telary turn a corner to find that their pursuit has taken them to a small riverside village.

And it is small, every building more appropriately sized for a child’s doll to play in than any fully grown adult, animal or no, to live in. And in the center stands a stone tower, tiny cannons jutting out all around it.

Azlyn barely notices the tiny establishment, too busy hanging on for dear life to the runaway window. In a universe full of such vastly strange things, the knight thinks that this misadventure is the strangest.

But suddenly the experience is hers no longer, as the window rears back like a mare in heat. Only the airborne frame doesn’t stop at ninety degrees, swinging around in a viciously fast one-eighty that dislodges its passenger.

Azlyn lands on the dusty road with a grunt of surprise and pain, a dull ache settling slowly into her tailbone and lower back. Letting out a groan, the girl falls to her back to find Telary and Sora standing above her.

“Are you okay?” Telary asks, leaning down and laying a tender hand on his counterpart’s forehead. It feels hot, but that’s just because of her exertion.

The hand feels good, and for a second Azlyn just closes her eyes and lets herself feel it, letting out a relaxing breath.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she finally responds after a second of meditation, her eyes opening to meet Telary’s. “But, y’know what’ll make me feel better?”

“Uh, what?” Telary asks cautiously, removing his hand from the girl and pursing his lips. Something in his friend’s tone is worrisome.

“When I smash that dumb flying window to smithereens!” Azlyn springs into a sitting position with force enough to kick up dust, eyes locking on the window that still hovers across the tiny town, several dozen buildings between them.

“Uh, you might wanna find a different way to handle that anger,” Sora warns her, his voice hitching with cautious anxiety. Calling his Keyblade to his hand, the boy takes a step back and says, “Because I think I just found those missing Heartless!”

Six Aeroplane Heartless, armed with machine guns and razor sharp propeller blades, appear from inky black portals of Darkness and begin their attack, diving at the trio with gusto.

Sora and Telary scatter right and left to dodge the first thrust, and Azlyn’s sitting position leaves her too low for the blow to even come close. Simultaneously spinning and standing, the knight unleashes a punch that cracks the wing of one Heartless as easily as if it were made from cheap craft wood.

Raising a shield spell protects Telary from the guns of another Heartless, his own retaliatory fireball meeting no such resistance as it sets his opponent ablaze. Dodging past the flaming wreck, the wizard reaches out and whacks another to pieces, once again demonstrating the fragility of the creatures’ vehicles.

With a quick one two, Sora fells another pair, barely noticing as Azlyn backflips past him to avoid a flurry of dark bullets from her new opponent. The leap takes her high into the air, and when she comes down her feet land atop the old tower in the middle of the town.

The tower reacts to her pressure, and suddenly every cannon jutting out from the structure activates, lead bearings pulsing out in a steady rhythm, impacting against the remaining Aeroplane Heartless and destroying them handily.

“Well, we showed them!” Sora declares with a triumphant smile and accompanying fist pump. Sure, some of the town buildings were damaged in the fight, but that’s a minor matter.

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees. “Now if only I’d been able to show that… Whoa!”

The excitable flying window zips past the group, zooming down a path leading out of the Lilliputian settlement. Fixing another scowl to her face, Azlyn rushes to give chase.

“We never even get one calm second, do we?” Sora sighs to Telary, who can only offer a sympathetic nod and shrug before turning and racing after his counterpart.

The boys manage to catch up much more quickly this time, soon flanking Azlyn in her mad race for the curtained menace. At a fork in the road it takes a severe left turn, the trio skidding after it and kicking up dust as they attempt the same maneuver.

They come upon a one-story house resting in a small glen. The flying window doesn’t even hesitate before charging into the house’s open door, and neither do the trio.

The domicile seems to possess no foyer, the door leading straight into a carpeted living room packed with furniture. Across the room, Window hovers cautiously, as if it’s a mouse trapped by a hungry cat.

“Now I got ya, you miserable…” Azlyn says as she stalks forward, hand already on her shield. Her threat remains uncompleted, however, as a sudden wind blows through the house at full gale-force, knocking whatever invective she had in mind away with it.

The wind churns and swirls angrily, eventually coalescing into a black hole in the midst of the room, which wastes no time drawing in the surrounding furniture and occupants.

Azlyn hunkers down and manages to stay firm, but Telary goes flying towards the anomaly, screaming in terror as he whips around the room, every swirl bringing him closer to the event horizon.

“Telary!” Sora cries out, the Keyblade appearing suddenly in his hand, silver tip pointing straight to the black hole. The blade flashes, and a silvery beam of light flies forth, striking the black hole and dissipating it in a quick burst of light.

The wind dies and Telary drops, quite unceremoniously, to the thinly carpeted ground. Azlyn moves to check on him, and he seems no worse for wear.

The flying window is gone, however, obviously having taken advantage of the black hole’s distraction to make its retreat.

“Well, now what?” Sora asks his companions, dismissing the Keyblade. “So far that thing’s been the only interesting thing we’ve… Yikes!”

Sora turns at the sudden brush against his leg, looking down to see what caused it. A small creature stands beside him, dressed in white shorts with two prominent buttons on the front. The most curious thing about him, by Sora’s judgement, are the round black ears atop his head. Instantly, the Keybearer realizes where he’s seen those ears before!

“Your Majesty!” Azlyn and Telary call out simultaneously, scooting forward in awe.

If the king recognizes his adopted children, he gives no indication of it, merely turns and grabs Sora’s hand in both of his. Obliquely, Sora notices that the king is wearing white gloves on his hands as well. The tiny monarch gives Sora a vigorous pump, then rushes off out the door again.

“Was that really the king?” Sora asks his companions, who still seem a bit shell-shocked.

“Probably the past version of him,” Telary says, standing up. Beside him, Azlyn uses his arm to support her own climb. “Though that doesn’t explain why he was here, or why he didn’t say anything.”

“Still, even just seeing the past version of him…” Azlyn says, her voice trembling slightly. “Make me think of how much I wanna see our version again.”

The pity party is prematurely broken up by the reappearance of Window, edging cautiously through the front door.

“It’s alright,” Azlyn sighs, rolling her eyes at her adversary. “I’m not gonna chase you anymore.”

Window continues to drift the rest of the way in, then across the floor, stopping in front of Azlyn. The knight gives it a puzzled look, and its only response is a twitch, the pull rope swaying in the air with the movement.

“I think it wants us to pull the rope again,” Sora suggests, cautiously approaching Window with his arm outstretched. Gingerly, he takes the rope in his hands and gives a slight tug, trying very hard not to overdo it.

The rope pulls back with ease, and in seconds the curtains in front of Window’s screen part, revealing another white light…

_Maleficent appears, standing before the screen and looking down at something or someone with undisguised disgust and contempt._

_“So, you’ve managed to fail yet again, I see,” the witch says viciously, her scowl revealing teeth. “Honestly, Peter, what possessed you to think that you could fill my role while I was away?”_

_“Well, that wasn’t really what I was trying ta do,” Pete says from somewhere off-screen, the perspective shaking fitfully. “Ya see, I just…”_

_“It matters not,” Maleficent cuts off her minion with a wave of her hand. Still looking disgusted, the witch turns away from the screen, stalking away deeper into her dark tower. “Whatever you intended, your failures have assured that when my time comes, you’ll be lucky if I allow you the scraps from my table, you odious lump!”_

_“But, but, Maleficent!” Pete calls, his arm reaching out from the screen. The picture turns, revealing the entirety of the former captain’s upper body. His expression is crestfallen, his jowly face turned down in shame. He takes a deep breath, lets it out as a wracking sigh. “Aw, for cryin’ out loud!”_

_Pete turns away, arms folded across his chest, still frowning. “She didn’t haveta go and say all that! I been trying my best to get along while_ she _takes her little dirt nap, but do I get any thanks, any congratulations for keeping spirits high? Surely I don’t!_

_“Golly, but I do miss the old days.” Pete takes a seat on the edge of the scrying table, burying his head in his gloved hands. “Back when I just startin’ out, and had the whole dang world at my feet! Those were the good ol’ days, yessiree. What I wouldn’t give ta go back to then…”_

_Suddenly, a bright light appears to Pete’s left. His curiosity drawn, the fat cat turns to see the light expand and coalesce into a set of double doors, a gleaming silver archway above them. In the midst of the arch is an odd crest, featuring a gloved fist, cigar, and what looks to be an image of Pete’s face!_

_“What in tarnation?” Pete mutters to himself quietly. He turns back slowly, just to make sure Maleficent isn’t standing in the doorway, make sure this isn’t just some cruel trick his irate mistress is playing on him. But the witch is nowhere to be found, so Pete rises to his feet and cautiously approaches the door._

_Pursing his lips in what seems to be apprehensive fear, Pete reaches out with his massive gloved hands to grip the door handles, holding them firmly for a moment while he takes in another deep breath. Finally prepared, he closes his eyes and opens the door._

_A light emerges from the open arch, slowly beginning to saturate the entire screen picture and fade it out._

_“What is this?” Pete breathes out incredulously as the picture begins to fade. “I can’t believe it, this is… Hey, is that my…?”_

Its screen once again a blank canvas, Windows closes its curtains, offers the trio a midair bow, and turns tail for the house’s exit.

“So it looks like Pete found a way back to the past,” Sora says, frowning at the implications. “He must have told Maleficent, and she decided to use it for her own scheme.”

“So, does that mean the Pete we had that fight with wasn’t actually Pete from the past, but present Pete with his form changed like us?” Azlyn wonders, silently cursing the confusing implications of time travel. “Was he trying to trick us?”

“What do you think, Telary?” Sora asks he wizard, who has over the course of this adventure in the past become to go-to source for solutions to temporal quandaries.

For a moment Telary doesn’t even appear to hear the question, sitting up in a plush easy chair and scratching his chin in thought. After a moment though, he looks to Sora with a confused expression and says, “What?”

“Is the Pete we met Past-Pete or Present-Pete?” Sora reiterates.

“I, um, well,” Telary says, obviously floundering for anything that might make things make sense. After a moment, he can only shrug and declare, “I don’t know.”

“Well then what were you thinking about?” Azlyn asks her counterpart with a quirked eyebrow. “Because you seemed all lost in thought over there.” Sora nods his agreement with the girl’s assessment.

“Well,” Telary begins, sighing deeply, “I was just wondering how exactly that door to the past showed up just when Pete wanted it. I mean, Merlin had to conjure up ours, but it seems like Pete just had to make a wish.” The wizard shrugs. “It just doesn’t add up.”

Sora nods his agreement, but counters with, “Well, Telary, if we used all our time sitting around and thinking about _how_ things happen instead of just dealing with them, how could we ever fix problems?”

Telary lets out a little laugh and nods. “I suppose that’s true, Sora.”

“So I think we just need to go and see that Pete again,” Sora decides on, finally taking charge on this adventure. “Whether he’s the past or present one, eventually all roads lead back to him.”

“I agree,” Telary says, rising from his chair. “What about you Azlyn?”

The knight looks up at her companions, startled. In her hands she holds a fountain pen, and a sheet of notepad paper rests on the table before her. Quickly, she tries to stash both pieces of evidence behind her back.

Telary is having none of it, and wordlessly approaches the girl with an outstretched hand. Sighing, Azlyn places the piece of paper in her counterpart’s hands.

“If you ever take in a young girl named Azlyn,” Telary reads with a disappointed frown, “make sure to give her a really big allowance. Trust me, it’ll be worth your while.” Looking up from the note, Telary fixes Azlyn with a withering glare.

Azlyn just shrugs as Sora snickers in the background. “Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying, can ya?”

“Yes,” Telary replies, tearing the piece of paper in half with a loud _rip_ that echoes through the house. “Yes I can.”

**KH-KH-KH**

The trio race back along the path to the Cornerstone hill, rushing past the miraculously restored Lilliput village as they go.

They reach the hill in record time, but unfortunately they seem to be too late. The Cornerstone is gone, the only evidence it was ever there the four wooden posts that had been holding it steady atop the hill.

“Dang it!” Azlyn roars, angrily kicking up dirt. “We let ourselves get distracted by that stupid window, and in the meantime Pete just helped himself to the Cornerstone!”

“Well, we’ve gotta hurry up and find that slimebag,” Sora declares, punching a fist into his open hand. “If we don’t, then Maleficent can really fill the castle with Darkness!”

“I don’t think finding Pete will be an issue,” Telary says, pointing to another path away from the hill. Turning, the trio see Pete, still dressed in the garb of his past self, rushing towards the hill.

“Hey, stop it right there!” Sora demands, moving to intercept Pete.

The fat cat skitters to a stop, giving the Keybearer and his friends a frustrated scowl. “Aw, I ain’t got time for foolin’ around wit youse! I finally got a line on the lowlife what nabbed my boat!”

“Yeah, so do we,” Azlyn agrees, her shield drawn in preparation for a fight. “It was you!”

“That’s right!” Pete agrees, thrusting a proud finger in the air. Then, suddenly realized what he just said, the boat captain drops the finger, his face twisting in confusion. “No, wait, that’s not what I meant! I just mean the guy what stole my boat looks exactly like me!”

“Oh yeah, and we’re just supposed to believe that?”

“Uh, Azlyn,” Sora says, nudging the knight to draw her attention. “I think we should.”

Turning to see what Sora is looking at, Azlyn spots Pete, attired in the armor he’s worn to every encounter the trio had with him in the present. Seeing that the heroes have spotted him, the fat cat only offers a chuckle and a jaunty wave before turning tail and running down a path with a sign that says **Waterway** at its entrance.

“See what I told ya!” Past-Pete exclaims, already rushing after his troublemaking future self.

“This is the most confusing thing I’ve ever experienced!” Azlyn yells frustratedly before taking off in pursuit of the Petes. Sora and Telary follow closely along behind her.

It’s only a few minutes jog to the Waterway, a long stretch of sandy shore that follows the line of the mighty river. Not far away an arch can be seen, leading out into open waters.

Past-Pete sits by the shore, clutching his head and looking dazed. Out in the river, a tiny steamboat with the name “Willy” painted on its side is pulling away from the land, turning to head out for the arch beyond. Behind the ship, underneath the small crane on the boat’s stern, sits a wooden Cage with the Cornerstone inside of it!

“Ha, ha!” Present-Pete cries out triumphantly, his head poking out of a small window on the side of the boat’s cabin. “Looks like you losers are too late to stop me! I win, pipsqueaks! Ahahahaha!”

“He’s getting away!” Sora laments, only able to watch helplessly as the boat and Pete make their escape, the Cornerstone bobbing along after. “He’s too far away, we’ll never catch him now!”

Looking up, Azlyn’s mouth stretches into an exuberant smile. “Don’t count us out yet, Sora. Look!”

Flying through the air, racing down a path marked with a sign that says **Wharf** , is the Window. It zooms to a stop in front of the trio, a sound like tires squealing against a road emerging from it as it comes to a halt.

“C’mon, boys!” Azlyn calls, hopping up to straddle window’s frame. “We’ve got a boat to catch!”

Words cannot express how right Pete feels, sitting behind the pilot’s seat of his oldest, most treasured possession and moving on towards victory. Suddenly all the pain and embarrassment he’s endured under Maleficent’s iron grip seems to melt away, leaving him with nothing but a deep-seated feeling of satisfaction.

It feels so good, in fact, that Pete begins to whistle, a jaunty tune he’d learned from his deckhand Mickey long, long ago.

He barely gets past the first blow, however, before the steamboat jerks, bouncing up and down on the river as if something just landed on its stern. Frowning, Pete turns, craning his neck to see what might have…

The Keybearer stands on Willy’s deck, hoisting his Keyblade high before bringing it down on the Cornerstone’s Cage, easily breaking through the thin wood holding it.

“No!” Pete cries, his mind racing to find a way to dislodge the pesky kid. “I’m so close I can taste it!”

“Oh yeah?” a hard female voice says. Turning slowly, Pete looks out the window beside him to see Azlyn and Telary beside him, Window easily keeping pace with the fleeing Willy. “Taste this, tubby!”

With a grunt, Azlyn reaches out and grabs the high collar of Pete’s shirt, giving it a yank that tugs him halfway out of the window. With another yank, Maleficent’s minion falls out the window and into the drink, kicking up a mighty splash.

Telary makes the leap from Window’s back to Willy’s port side, scrambling through the window there and into the pilot seat.

As Telary makes the necessary preparations to turn, Window floats to Willy’s deck, allowing Azlyn to easily hop off its back and onto the boat.

“Uh, thanks for everything,” Azlyn says awkwardly, giving Window a friendly smile. “We couldn’t have done it without you.” Window dips its front in a nod, then turns and zooms off, out to the open sea.

It takes a minute, but soon the trio reach the shore once again, the Cornerstone still secured in its half-broken cage.

“Not half bad, if I say so myself,” Sora declares, smiling at his friends as they move from boat to shore.

There’s as sudden loud splash, and the trio turn to see Present-Pete emerge from the waterway, scowling deeply at his misfortune. After taking a moment to shake himself dry, he turns tail and runs off to the wharf trail. His jog takes him by Past-Pete, who by now has regained his senses enough to give pursuit.

“We’ve still got some work to do, guys,” Telary reminds his friends. “Pete’s gotta be heading for the doorway!”

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary give chase, following the path to the wharf, a square of bare dirt surrounded by warehouses, places where any goods coming up the river can easily be stored. A large crane hangs above one building, its hook hovering over the patch of land.

The Petes are already facing off by the time the trio arrives, and so far it seems Present-Pete has a clear advantage, knocking his past self to the ground with a solid punch to the face.

“Hey, stop hitting yourself!” Azlyn calls out, alerting Present-Pete to the trio’s presence. Scowling, he begins to stalk his way towards them.

“That feller is one tough cookie,” Past-Pete moans as he rises to his feet once more, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary standing beside him with weapons drawn.

“He’s not so tough,” Sora declares, his eyes narrowing as he gazes at Present-Pete in challenge.

“Oh, yeah?” Present-Pete roars, reaching into his back pouch and pulling out a large bomb. Scowling, he tosses it towards his enemies. It impacts against the ground and explodes, scattering everyone with its forceful burst.

“Well, well, well,” Pete chuckles, standing over Azlyn and Telary with his fists against his hips, “it seems I got ya by surprise there, kiddos!” Smirking, the fat cat reaches back once more and grabs another bomb. “Oh boy, it seems like I got one more of ‘em up my sleeve, eh?”

Looking absolutely triumphant, Pete raises his weapon into the air, preparing finish off his rivals once and for all.

Suddenly, the tiny form of Mickey the boat hand leaps off the roof of a building, grabbing the wharf crane and swinging down to plant both of his feet in Pete’s back.

Maleficent’s minion yelps, inadvertently tossing his bomb all the way to the river, where it lands with a splash, then explodes with an even larger one.

Mickey lands in front of his future adoptees, flashing them a big grin before giving them a sly wink.

“Uh, thanks Your Maj… I mean, Mickey,” Telary says, rising and giving the future king a grateful nod.

“No more tricks Pete!” Sora declares, Past-Pete standing behind him and fixing his future self with an angry scowl. Azlyn and Telary complete the semicircle of Pete’s enemies, slowing backing the miscreant up to the river.

Pete, possessing the distinct ability to know when his odds are too long, merely gives the people surrounding him a last defiant snort before raising a hand and snapping his fingers. There’s a bright flash behind him, and suddenly the silver doorway he’d used to come to the past appears.

“Aw, forget you lot!” the fat cat declares, turning and rushing underneath the gleaming archway before closing the doors behind him fast.

“Sora, now!” Telary commands, and the Keybearer obeys, stepping up and unleashing a beam of energy that locks the door. With another flash, it disappears for good.

“We did it!” the Keybearer cheers, pumping his fist triumphantly in the air. “We saved the futu…” Azlyn quickly shuts the boy up before he blabs their time travel secret, bumping hard into his side.

“Could somebody tell me what in the sam heck is goin’ on ‘round here?” Past-Pete, now the only Pete left standing, exasperatedly exclaims. “What was that door? What did yer giant key thingamabob do to it? Who even _was_ that guy?”

“You from the future,” Telary says without thinking. Once he realizes his error, of course, his face contorts into a terrified expression and he clamps both hands over his mouth.

“Me from the _what_!” Pete yells in utter amazement, his jaw dropping nearly to the ground. “You mean to tell me that I turn out ta be such a jerk?”

“Um, well…” Sora squeaks out, super unsure of what exactly to do at this juncture.

“Well, I’ll tell ya right now, that ain’t happenin’!” Pete declares solemnly. “From this day forward, I promise nothin’ but good, clean livin’! Why, I might even start a… Oook!”

Pete’s eyes roll back in his head and he falls dead away, landing on the dusty ground with a thump. Behind him stands Azlyn, her shield still held in the air after knocking into the captain’s skull.

“What did you do that for?” Telary exclaims, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

“Fixing _your_ mistake, Mr. ‘Don’t Mess With The Future’,” the knight counters.

“You could have given him a concussion!” the wizard continues, barging straight past his inadvertent hypocrisy. “Brain damage!”

“I’d put munny on that one,” Sora cuts in with a knowing nod. Telary turns to glare at him, and the Keybearer just holds his hands up in surrender.

“And besides, he’ll still know about the future when he wakes up,” Telary continues.

“Maybe not,” Azlyn counters with a shrug. “As it happens, I’ve got a plan!”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Ughhhh,” Captain Pete moans, opening his eyes to the grey sky above. He feels terrible, like his head’s been bashed against a rock repeatedly. And he’s soaking wet, to boot!

For a moment he just lays there groggily, blinking up at the sky. Then, a thought begins to come to him. Something about his boat being stolen, and a man from the future who…

“Oh, thank goodness!” cries out a thankful voice.

Sitting up, Pete finds himself looking at three young kids, all gathered around him with looks of concern on their faces. Looking all around, he realizes that he’s lying on the shore of the waterway. His steamboat floats in the water beside the land, bobbing happily up and down.

“We were so worried when we saw what happened,” says another kid, tall and wearing overalls like Captain Pete’s. “What an accident!”

“Accident?” Pete repeats blearily, shaking his head in a search for answers. He finds none. “Whaddya mean ‘accident’. What happened?”

“You fell overboard, Captain,” explains a boy with spiky hair, who as it happens is just as soaking wet as Pete himself. “We were taking a walk along the shore when we saw it happen.”

“Sora dived in to save you,” adds the third child, and the only girl. “He got to you, but it was a real close thing, sir.”

“I… I remember somethin’, though,” Pete protests, searching his addled brain for something he vaguely recalls. “The boat was stolen, y’see, and there was me from the future…”

“The future?” the tall boy, Telary, scoffs in amazement. “I sure don’t know anything about that, Captain. Perhaps you just hit your head, on the side of your steamboat?”

“Yeah, p’rhaps I did,” Pete agrees, dismissing any further notions of people from the future. What kinda nonsense is that anyway? Sighing, the captain rises to his feet, rejecting Sora’s offer of help. “Well, I’m sorry to have put you kids through all that trouble.”

“Oh, it’s fine sir,” Azlyn says with a dismissive shrug. After a moment, a mischievous grin comes over her face. “Just don’t make a habit out of it.” Her companions snicker beneath their hands, only serving to further bewilder Captain Pete.

“No, I sure won’t,” he says finally, actually feeling grateful to the kids.

“Well, we’d better be off!” Telary says, nodding cheerily at Pete as he backs away. “Glad to have been of service, captain!”

The trio head back to Cornerstone Hill, laughing all the while. When they return, the Cornerstone of Light rests on the wooden posts once more, ready to form the backbone of Disney Castle’s defenses.

“I have to say, that was a pretty good plan you came up with back there Azlyn,” Telary informs his counterpart, smiling at her fondly.

“Yeah, well…” the girl replies, turning away with a blush on her cheeks. As she does she sees Sora making mock-flirtatious eyes at her, reminding her once again of the awkward situation of her and Telary’s possible feelings. Suddenly, she turns hard once again. “I was only cleaning up _your_ mess, Tel.”

Telary’s smile fades out quickly, replaced by a genuine hurt in his eyes. “Yeah, I guess I did mess up back there. Still, things turned out for the best.”

“Mostly thanks to the king,” Sora says, stepping up beside Telary. “If he hadn’t jumped in when he did, you two would have been toast.”

Telary nods his agreement. “It seems the king was a real brave guy, even in these olden days.”

“I don’t know about you guys,” Sora sighs, looking back at Merlin’s door fondly, “but I’m ready to go back to the present, and keep our journey going there.”

“You sure?” Azlyn asks, looking around the hill. “I mean, I know Pete not ending up bad would’ve been, uh, bad, but there’s gotta be some _small_ thing we could change that could…”

The boys don’t even entertain the idea, each one taking an arm and hauling the knight back to the magic door.

“Hey, c’mon!” Azlyn protests, wriggling in her companions’ grips. “I was just joking, I promise! Oh, c’mon guys, just one _tiny_ thing? Please?”

As the time travelers head back to the future, far away by the docks a small storage compartment opens on Willy’s deck. Yawning and stretching, young Mickey Mouse emerges. Taking a look around, the deckhand frowns.

“Uh oh,” he mutters to himself. “I musta slept all day! Oh, Captain Pete will have my head for sure!”

Not far away, Window floating companionably by his side, an older and wiser mouse laughs at the lazy days of his youth.

**KH-KH-KH**

Minnie smiles as she looks around the Cornerstone chamber, the wicked thorns encircling it fading away as if they were never there.

“It seems they did it,” Merlin points out rather obviously. “Good show!”

Moments later the silver door to the past bursts open, Azlyn flying out head first. She lands on the chamber’s hard marble floor, grunting frustratedly. Sora and Telary follow her out, both the lads casually strolling through time.

“You’re back!” Goofy exclaims, wasting no time in rushing the trio and wrapping them up in a warm, friendly hug. “Oh, I was so worried!”

“Me too,” Donald admits, slowly striding up to the group himself. “But I’m glad to see you’re all safe!”

“Once again you three have demonstrated extraordinary courage and valor,” Minnie says as she approaches, Merlin smiling by her side. “Thank you.”

“Well, it wasn’t easy,” Sora says as he extricates himself from Goofy’s arms. “I mean, things were so confusing, making sure what we did in the past…”

“The _past_?” Donald squawks, his beak dropping open in surprise. “You mean to tell me that the three of you time traveled?”

“We sure did,” Azlyn confirms with a smug nod. “And now everything’s the way it should be!”

“Yes, I don’t seem to sense any major changes that resulted from your adventure,” Merlin agrees, nodding happily. “It’s good to see that you three had the presence of mind to not muddy the waters of time.”

“Oh, all the credit for that goes straight to Telary, sir,” Sora says, throwing an arm around his older companion. “He knew just what to do every step of the way.”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees. She and Telary share a look, then both blush and turn away.

“Well, once I decided to stop worrying about the specifics of everything, at least,” Telary says, nudging Sora with his hip.

The Cornerstone seems better than ever, all traces of Darkness gone from inside its swirling depths. It suddenly flashes, an aura of Light that Sora finds all too familiar surrounding it. Drawing the Keyblade, Sora goes to Disney Castle’s heart and opens a new pathway.

“Well, I guess we should get going,” Telary sighs, looking over his Disney Castle family. “Things may be alright here, but there are other worlds in danger.”

“We wish you the best of luck,” Minnie informs the travelers with a little curtsy. “And of course you’re welcome to return here any time you wish.”

“Donald!” a woman’s voice calls from the stairway into the Cornerstone chamber. Turning, the assembled group sees Daisy Duck emerge, dressed in her usual purple dress. Upon seeing her sweetheart, her expression hardens, and she makes a swift beeline for the court magician.

“Uh oh,” Azlyn laughs under her breath, smirking at the suddenly worried Donald. “Looks like somebody’s in trouble!”

“Uh, hi Daisy,” the nervous duck greets his gal, smiling at her affectionately. “Um, what’re you doin’ here, honey?”

“Well, after you decided to not show up for our _date_ ,” Daisy says angrily, her eyes narrowed at her beau, “I came to see what you thought was so much more important than having dinner with me.”

“Oh, I…” Donald stammers, nervously pulling at the collar of his robe. He looks to anyone for help, but nobody seems willing to. Gulping, he turns and sees that the door to the past is still standing beside the Cornerstone. The wizard smiles mischievously, a devious thought coming to his mind. With a satisfied snicker, he begins to move for the door.

He doesn’t make it far, however, before Daisy grabs him by the tail feathers and yanks, dragging his webbed feet along the floor.

“And where did you think _you_ were going, mister?” Daisy scolds her boyfriend. He barely hears the words over the laughter of everyone else in the chamber. “The night’s still young, and I’m gonna get my dinner, even if I have to drag you the whole way there!”

**KH-KH-KH**

In the white halls of another castle very far away, two hooded figures meet in a white hallway. The pair stand in front of a large picture window, gazing out into the night.

“I take it your strategy was successful, Number X?” says one to the other, his voice flat and toneless.

“It all came about just as I had predicted, Number VII,” Number X replies, smirking under his hood. “The oaf released Heartless into the world of the past, and the Keybearer very obligingly handled them. The Superior’s plan grows ever closer to completion.”

“Good,” VII replies. “Very good indeed.”


	13. A Pirate's Life For Me

When the dazzling lights of the teleporter fade, Sora finds himself alone, standing upon some sort of stone structure atop a cliff, looking out at a huge harbor below. Docked boats float so close together that barely any water can be seen between them. Further out to sea, a large ship with black sails can be seen drifting into the marina, misty white fog seeming to follow in its wake. Further along the shore, a fairly large town of wooden buildings sits proudly.

Turning, Sora looks down the walkway of grey brick that extends along the cliff face, deadly black cannons lined up every few feet. Behind him, iron gates under stone archways reveal a larger assembly area beyond, with some kind of wooden platform set up in the middle of it.

“This is pretty… different,” Sora mutters to himself after taking stock of the place. There’s something about this new world that just makes him _feel_ different. Maybe it’s the tangy smell of the sea air reminding him of his island home, or the way the moon is concealed under dark clouds.

He steps down from his vantage point, a raised stone platform with an arch over it, a brass bell hanging above the ground. Off to his left he hears voices, two men approaching. Hesitating, he ducks behind the nearest cannon, trying to make as little noise as possible.

“She did not exactly seem enthusiastic about my proposal, I’m afraid,” says one voice, strong and firm with an unmistakable accent. “Even before… The incident.”

“Elizabeth has always been her own person,” another man replies, his voice higher, older, and his accent even more refined. “She gets that from her mother, and while it isn’t a bad thing, it can make her somewhat… Difficult, at times. Still, she may yet come around to the idea if…”

“Pardon me, Governor,” the strong voice interrupts his companion suddenly. There’s a slight rasp of steel on leather, and then the voice commands, “You there, behind the cannon. Step out, slowly.”

Silently cursing himself for not concealing his presence better, Sora inches out from behind the cannon, standing before the two men with his hands held up.

“A boy,” says the governor, who is dressed in a fine coat and hat. Long, curly white hair extends to the nape of his neck. Upon seeing Sora, his eyes narrow and his lip curls. “An oddly dressed boy, at that.”

“Who are you?” demands the younger man, who’s dressed in a blue military uniform. He wears a tri-corner hat as well, and a stony expression. “What are you doing on this rampart? You are aware that this is a _military_ base, are you not?”

“Uh, well,” Sora stammers, noticing that besides the silvery sword he has drawn on him, his interrogator also has a flintlock pistol affixed to his belt. “My name is Sora, and I’m, er, looking for my friends. And no, I actually didn’t know this was a military base.”

“So, you plead ignorance then, hm?” the military man asks, his eyes narrowed archly. “Governor, what exactly do you think…? Governor Swan?”

The governor is paying no attention, squinting at something out over the water. “Commodore Norrington what, what is…?”

Sora and Norrington turn almost simultaneously to look at what has the governor’s attention, just in time to see a ball of black metal as big as Sora’s head coming flying through the air, straight at them.

“Down, Governor!” Norrington commands, grabbing Swan by the neck of his coat and pulling him to the stone floor of the rampart. Sora dives down as well, and not seconds later the metal ball strikes the wall behind him, scattering chunks of stone shrapnel everywhere with a sickening _crack_!

Seconds later there’s another impact, just as hard as the first, though further along the rampart. Another cannonball hits the fort, and underneath the sound of the impact Sora can hear footsteps, men scattering to and fro as they prepare to defend their port.

Realizing that this is as good an opportunity to make his leave as any, Sora rushes to the nearest stairway, hoping that he can find Azlyn and Telary somewhere in that town he saw.

**Port Royal**

A sudden pressure to his side, like a boot prodding him awake, is the first thing Telary feels once his head clears. The next is pain, emanating dully from a knot somewhere on the back of his head.

Looking up, he sees a man staring down at him, a black tricorner hat slipping down over his forehead. A cautious fear emanates from his eyes, and in one hand he holds a short length of wood.

“Ugh,” Telary groans, rubbing his hand over his eyes and trying his best to block out the pain. Slowly, he rises to a sitting position, taking in his surroundings.

If the iron bars in front of him are any kind of clue, he’s in a cell, one of a long row of them in a stone corridor. Behind him is a solid stone wall, a tiny window with its own bars allowing him a small glimpse of the night sky outside.

“Um, sorry about hittin’ ya, mate,” says his apparent cellmate, a skinny man dressed in boots, trousers, a threadbare shirt and ratty vest. Through the bars of the cell’s right wall, more men can be seen gathered, all staring intently at Telary with a mixture of fear and awe. “But frankly, that’s the kind of treatment one should expect when they go popping out of thin air all willy nilly, savvy?”

“Especially during a pirate attack such as this,” chimes in a man from the adjacent cell. Listening, Telary realizes that there are indeed cannons firing outside the prison.

“Uh, okay,” Telary says, shaking his head and clearing it a little more. He still feels the pain from the knot, but he also knows that curing it magically will only provoke the population further. “Um, you didn’t happen to see anybody else, uh, come out of thin air, did you?”

“More of you!” a man from the next cell over cries hysterically. “It’s a bloody invasion!”

“I’ll bet ‘im ‘as somethin’ to do with those cannons!” another one posits.

“No, I know those cannons, gents,” Telary’s cellmate says with a firm shake of his head. “And as far as I know, the _Black Pearl_ isn’t in the habit of using magic lights.”

“I’d not be so sure, were I you,” says the previously hysterical man. “I’ve heard many a tale about the _Black Pearl_. Crewed by the damned she is, and with a captain so evil…”

“Hell itself spat ‘im back out,” Telary’s cellmate finishes boredly, rolling his eyes. “Yes, I’ve heard a version o’ that tale meself recently.”

Leaning back on a pile of straw stacked in the cell’s corner, Telary can’t help but fidget nervously. Pirates attacking a town seems like just the sort situation his companions would wish to involve themselves in, and if Azlyn and Sora are somewhere out in the night, he’d bet anything they’re right in the thick of danger.

His thoughts are interrupted by a sudden burst of loud noise and smoke, as something strikes the outside wall of the next cell hard enough to blow open a sizeable hole in the wall. For a moment, the men just stare at the gaping hole, but after a moment they begin to rush through.

“Sorry, mates,” says one, looking over his shoulder into Telary’s cell. “It seems you’ve no manner of luck at all.”

“No,” Telary’s cell mate sighs, staring after the escapees with a sad, resigned expression. “It seems I haven’t.”

“Sorry about that,” Telary says sympathetically.

“Well, it ain’t the first time Lady Fortune’s smile has unfairly missed Captain Jack Sparrow,” the man says with shrug, turning back to Telary and taking a seat. “But I’ll find a way out of here yet, sure enough.”

Truth be told, at any moment Telary could use the barest bit of magic to blast his way out of this cell. Something about aiding a jail break, however, doesn’t sit right with him.

“I don’t even know where I am,” Telary admits.

“Why, this is Port Royal, lad,” Jack informs him, frowning. “An oppressive seaside community what throws in jail the man who saved the bloody governor’s daughter, just because of some mistakes he’s made in his past!”

“Saving the governor’s daughter doesn’t sound like something a criminal would do,” Telary says, earning an agreeable nod from Jack. “Are you on some kind of quest for redemption, cleaning up the old mistakes you made in your previous life?”

“Not really,” Jack replies with a shake of his head. “I actually came here to steal a ship, collect a crew in Tortuga, and sally forth to pillage my weaselly black guts out. Saving that Elizabeth lass only happened on accident.”

“Oh,” Telary replies dejectedly. If Jack were some sort of tragic hero, desperately seeking to right his wrongs, things might be different. As it is, Telary’s not willing to risk letting a criminal go free.

“I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for that amateur blacksmith and his fancy footwork,” Jack adds, his frown turning into a scowl. “You know somethin’, I think he actually _was_ a eunuch.”

“This,” Telary mutters himself as Jack goes to silently stare out the hole in the wall, “is going to be a long night.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Azlyn!” Sora cries out to his companion, knocking the Keyblade into the head of an axe-wielding pirate.

The knight blocks the giant hook of her opponent with her shield, then cracks her fist across his jaw and sends him to the ground. Upon seeing Sora, she bounds over to him.

“About time,” she says, shouting to be heard over the chaos of the pirate raid. “Where’s Telary?”

Sora shrugs. “I think the teleporter freaked out again,” he replies, frowning. “I hope we can find him in all this mess!”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees, looking worried as well. “He can probably handle himself just fine, but still I…”

“Elizabeth!” a man’s voice calls out suddenly. Azlyn and Sora turn to find the source of the cry, a young man armed with a sword and axe, then swivel again to see a young woman in a nightgown, presumably Elizabeth, being rushed along behind a group of pirates.

The young man starts towards them, but suddenly stops short as a group of Shadow Heartless pop up in front of him. Startled, he stumbles back, weapons raised.

“You save the guy,” Azlyn says authoritatively. “I’ll help the girl.”

Sora nods and rushes towards the desperate young man, bringing the Keyblade down on one Shadow, turning to catch another one, then stabbing through a third.

“I’ve never seen these manners of creature before,” the man says, marveling at Sora and his Keyblade.

“Heartless,” Sora answers. “They’re bad news, but luckily this kind is pretty weak. By the way, I’m Sora.”

“William Turner,” the man replies with a nod. “Many thanks for your help, but they’ve taken Elizabeth…”

“My friend Azlyn is on it,” Sora assures Will. Suddenly, the sounds of dark portals opening draws his attention. Soldier, Hook Bat, and Rabid Dog Heartless begin to flood the street, adding even more danger to a night already full of it.

“My goodness, they’ve come from nowhere!” Will marvels, readying his weapons for a fight.

“Yeah,” Sora sighs, hefting the Keyblade once again. “They do tend to do that.”

Azlyn, meanwhile, continues to give chase to the pirates and their captive. Occasionally she knocks down a pirate or slashes her shield through a Heartless, but otherwise she’s focused on her goal of rescuing this Elizabeth girl.

She finally catches up to the group as they cross a bridge out of town, headed for a small grassy area with water access. There are several longboats tied up there, and Azlyn knows that if the pirates reach them, there will be no helping the girl.

So, steeling herself for battle, Azlyn lets out a loud cry of bloodlust, leaping forward and flipping through the air. As she lands she tosses her shield, which goes spinning through the night air and hits one pirate, a tall skinny fellow, straight in the face. He falls back, and something goes flying from his eye socket.

There’s not much time to think about that, however, as she finds herself in the thick of the five remaining pirates. One swings an axe at her, but she dodges and puts an elbow in the ruffian’s gut. Another tries to grab her, but she reverses and kicks hard at his knee. Another manages to get a hand on her arm from behind, but she elbows him too, then steps forward and punches another in the face.

The only pirate that remains standing is a stocky, balding fellow who has a grip on Elizabeth’s arm. He backs up, pulling her with him and barely avoiding stepping on the skinny pirate Azlyn had hit with her shield, who’s crawling along the ground looking desperately for something.

“What’s the meanin’ of this?” the man spits outrageously, pursing his lips at Azlyn’s slow approach.

“Uh, you kidnapped someone, moron!” the knight scoffs, rolling her eyes angrily.

“I did no such thing,” he replies with a disdainful sniff. “She came with us by her own free will, under the protection of parley.”

“Sure she did.”

“As a matter of fact, he’s telling the truth,” Elizabeth replies, not sounding as frightened as the standard kidnap victim. “I thought perhaps I could negotiate an end to this attack. I’m the governor’s… Maid. I work in his house, I’ve seen some diplomacy done.”

“Are you kidding me?” Azlyn exclaims, looking from Elizabeth to the pirates in quick succession.

“No kidding here, missy,” gloats a familiar voice drifting out of a nearby grove of trees.

“And here I thought this couldn’t get any worse,” Azlyn sighs as Pete steps out of the foliage, kicking aside the pirate still searching for his eye. In concession to the world’s theme, an oversized tricorn sits atop his head.

“Looks like your luck’s done run out, Wannabe-Knight,” Pete continues his victory-relishing. “Take her out boys!”

Azlyn snorts derisively. “You can’t be referring to the pirates whose butts I just stomped into the ground.”

“Oh, I’m not,” Pete assures the girl. “I’m talkin’ about the rest of ‘em.”

On cue, the entire on-shore crew of the _Black Pearl_ comes rushing towards their longboats. When they see the standoff happening on shore, they all stop and stare at the odd situation. Even dumbfounded, they still look plenty menacing.

“Y’know something,” Azlyn sheepishly tells the stocky pirate holding Elizabeth, “I think I’d like to try some of that parsley stuff myself.”

“Found it!” the tall skinny pirate cries triumphantly, springing to his feet and holding his wooden eye high in the air. “Found me eye!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora slashes through a Soldier in one swing, then turns to knock a Hook Bat out of the air. By the time his opponents are through, Will has already moved on. They’d finished off the Heartless in town quickly, and now rush to see if they can catch up to Azlyn and Elizabeth.

When they reach the grassy area beyond the bridge, they find that they’re too late. The pirates have boarded their longboats. Azlyn and Elizabeth can be seen in one, as well as…

“Pete!” Sora grunts like a curse. The fat cat seems to have Azlyn restrained, and the Keybearer can safely bet that isn’t sitting well with his knightly friend.

“We need to find a boat!” Will declares, searching frantically like a man possessed. “We can go after them, take the ship…”

“Will,” Sora says, “you know that’s crazy, right? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do crazy stuff all the time, but that’s more than even I would try. All those pirates, and Pete and the Heartless, against the two of us. You know it can’t happen.”

Will sighs. “I know Sora,” he agrees sadly. “I know.”

**KH-KH-KH**

As their longboat reaches the ship, Pintel and Ragetti (the stocky and one-eyed pirates, respectively) stow their oars as someone on deck throws down a rope ladder, which the longboat occupants begin climbing one by one.

The few pirates that did not go with the shore raiding party rush about the deck, tying ropes and pulling lines and engaging in all manner of nautical business. Azlyn and Elizabeth take a moment to take it all in, but they’re soon disrupted by the sound of boots stepping slowly down a stairway.

Turning, they see a man dressed in a finer class of clothes than the rest of his crew, including a hat with a large grey feather sticking out of it, descend from the upper deck.

“And what be all this?” he asks imperiously, looking down his nose at his “guests”.

“We caught this one in the governor’s house, says she’s a maid,” Pintel announces, briefly holding up Elizabeth’s arm for emphasis. “Claimed the right of parley she did.”

“Oh, did ya now?” the captain chuckles, looking the girl over lecherously. “And what exactly did ye want to discuss with ol’ Barbossa, girl?”

“I came to negotiate the immediate cessation of hostilities upon Port Royal,” the maid declares firmly. With the exception of the captain, the entire crew, and Azlyn as well, merely stare at her in confusion. Noticing their stares, she sighs and tries again. “I want you bilge rats to leave this town and never return!”

“Ah,” Barbossa says with a nod as the rest of the pirates return to their normal, menacing selves. “And how exactly were ye goin’ to persuade us to break off this most profitable plunder?”

“I have what you want,” she says reaching for the chain around her neck. Quick as a wink she yanks it off her head and moves to the edge of the deck, holding the chain over the black sea below. Squinting, Azlyn can see that there’s a medallion of some sort attached to the chain. “I’ll drop it!”

Barbossa scoffs, though it’s clear his heart isn’t in it. “What does one measly medallion matter to us? Our hull is bursting with bounty!”

“Then I suppose you won’t mind if I…” Elizabeth says slowly, loosening her grip on the chain and sending the medallion skittering closer to the water. Every pirate onboard gasps audibly, and the girl goes up several points in Azlyn’s estimation. Seeing the reaction all around, Elizabeth smiles. “I knew it. I saw this ship eight years ago, during my crossing from England. It was also the day I found this.”

“What did you say your name was again, lass?” Barbossa asks, his eyebrows furrowing. “I like to know who I’m negotiating with.”

“My name is Elizabeth Turner,” the girl replies with only a little hesitation.

That stirs up yet another rustling among the crew, and Azlyn swears she can make out the word “Bootstrap” from several of the pirates.

“Miss _Turner_ ,” Barbossa repeats, suddenly all smiles. “And how, pray tell, did a girl such as yourself get ahold of that there c… medallion? Family heirloom?”

“I didn’t steal it, if that’s what you mean,” Elizabeth replies defensively.

“I see,” Barbossa says sinisterly. “Very well, Miss Turner. I deem your terms acceptable.”

Elizabeth lets out a visible sigh of relief, and Azlyn suddenly has a new appreciation for the power of material goods. And Telary said munny _doesn’t_ make the worlds go ‘round.

“I’ll just need that medallion from ye,” Barbossa says, then looks up. “Oh, wait, I suppose you can just give it to Jack.”

Suddenly a capuchin monkey dressed in a tiny white shirt and blue pants descends from the ship’s rigging, snatching the coin and startling Elizabeth, Azlyn, and Pete. Quickly, the critter skitters across the deck and climbs up to Barbossa’s shoulder, dropping the medallion in his waiting hand.

“And thus concludes the negotiation,” the captain says in a satisfactory tone before turning to address his crew. “Alright you bilges, let’s make way to head for open water!”

“What!” Elizabeth gasps, running towards the retreating Barbossa. Rolling his eyes, the captain turns to meet her gaze. “Our negotiations are concluded, you must return me to shore! The code…”

“The _pirate’s_ code, lass,” Barbossa corrects the girl. “Means you have to be a pirate for it to actually apply. And you clearly _ain’t_ a pirate, or you’d know that the code functions more as guidelines than actual rules. Enjoy your stay in the brig, Miss Turner.”

Pintel and Ragetti arrive to haul the protesting girl off. Scowling, Azlyn starts towards the distressed young woman, only to be pulled back forward by Pete.

“Excuse me, Cap’n Barbossa,” the fat cat says to the pirate, who turns and gives Azlyn a quick once-over.

“And what be this?” he asks derisively.

“You know the deal, Barbossa,” Pete declares firmly. “I gave ya the Heartless to help you on your search, and now it’s time you paid up. This girl is part of a crew that’s been givin’ me no end of trouble, and I need a place to stash her while I deal with the rest of ‘em. I was thinkin’ yer brig might be the ideal place.”

Barbossa looks Azlyn over once more, the knight squirming under his gaze. She longs to lash out and knock him down a peg with a kick, but something about the way his monkey is looking at her holds her back.

“I suppose it shouldn’t be a problem,” he says after a moment. “There be plenty of food to go around.” A disturbingly lecherous grin spreads across his face. “And when it comes to women, ain’t two always better’n one?”

“Not as good as two testicles, buddy!” Azlyn snaps, throwing herself at the captain. Pete holds her back, however. “Which is two more than you’ll have when _I_ get outta that brig!”

Barbossa just smiles fondly at the threat, but the monkey on his shoulder lets out a loud hiss that actually manages to cow the knight.

Noticing the expression on his captive’s face, Pete lets out a hearty chuckle as he leads her down into the ship’s brig.

**KH-KH-KH**

When Will and Sora reach the fort, they find a strategy session already underway, several soldiers standing at attention while the man Sora recognizes as Norrington looks over a map laid out on the table in front of him. Governor Swan stands beside him looking fretful.

“They’ve taken Elizabeth!” Will announces as he approaches.

Most of the soldiers tense up in surprise at the outburst, and the governor jumps like he’s being attacked. Norrington, however, doesn’t even look up from his map.

“Remove this man,” he orders a red-coated soldier coolly.

“Did you not hear me?” Will demands, shoving the approaching soldier out of the way and stepping up to the map table. “She’s in danger, we need to go…”

“And how exactly do you propose we do that?” Norrington replies, finally raising his gaze to meet Will’s. “Unless you somehow have knowledge of this _Black Pearl_ , we seem to be a bit light on leads.”

“Jack Sparrow!” a soldier standing guard nearby speaks up. Everyone looks at him, and he grinds his teeth nervously, looking down for a second to regain composure. “Before he was apprehended, Sparrow said something about the _Black Pearl_.”

“Ask him for help, make a deal!” Will suggests, earning more ire from the commodore.

“I think not,” he says. He turns to another soldier behind him and asks, “Is Sparrow still in his cell?”

“Yes sir!” the soldier replies. After a moment, he seems to falter. “Though there does seem to be a bit of a puzzle goin’ on down there.”

“What kind of puzzle?” the governor asks, one eyebrow raised curiously.

“Well, it seems that there’s a prisoner in Sparrow’s cell that no one can remember arresting,” the soldier answers, fidgeting with his rifle nervously.

“Really?” Sora says, elbowing past a soldier. Everyone turns to look at him as if they’ve just noticed he’s there. “Uh, it’s just that I’m looking for one of my friends, so…”

“Young fellow,” the soldier replies. “Red hair, odd clothes much like yours.”

Sora sighs in relief. At least he knows where Telary is now. Sure, that place is _jail_ , but Sora knows the wizard has survived worse.

“Well, whoever else might be in there with him, Jack Sparrow is still in his cell,” Norrington says with an eye roll for all the back and forth going on. “Therefore he is not an accomplice to this crew of cutthroats. There will be no deal.”

“You have to do something!” Will rages, kicking at the leg of the map table.

“We will attempt to discern their most likely course,” Norrington says. “And seeing as you are _not_ a military man, I think it’s time you took your leave.”

“But…”

“Mr. Turner,” Norrington says, stepping up to the young blacksmith for a private comment, “you would do well to remember that you are not the only man here who cares for Elizabeth. Good day.”

“But my friend…” Sora protests.

“It’s too dangerous at the moment to let any prisoners run free, no matter how mysterious the circumstances of their imprisonment may be,” Norrington replies. “Once the residual confusion dies down, you’ll be allowed to see your friend. Until then, good day.”

Will looks like he’s on the verge of another outburst, so Sora grabs his arm and pulls him away. It isn’t long before Will brushes him off, turning and heading to a staircase deeper into the fort. Confused, Sora follows.

“…And then, they made me their chief!” a voice can be heard boasting at the bottom of the enclosed stone stairway. Turning a corner, Sora sees that Will has led him into the fort’s prison.

“Jack!” Will calls out.

“Sora!” Telary chimes happily.

“Telary!” Sora cheerfully exclaims.

“Eunuch lad!” Jack mockingly addresses Will.

“Those pirates took Elizabeth,” Will informs the prisoners, looking hard at Jack. “And I think you might have an idea of how to find them.”

Jack shrugs, rising from his sitting position and leaning against the bars. “Perhaps I do, my lad. But what makes you think I’ll be sharing any of my keen insights with you? After all you’re the reason I’m stuck in this cell.” Jack taps his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “Come to think of it, that lass you want rescuing played quite a large role as well, what with her unfortunate decision to try cliff diving.”

“I can get you out of here,” Will says, crossing his arms and giving Jack a cool look.

“How?” the pirate asks.

“I made these bars…”

Sora summons the Keyblade in a flash of light, stopping Will’s craftsmanship lecture cold. The Port Royal natives look at the boy in surprise.

“And who in blazes are you?” Jack demands.

“The name’s Sora,” Sora answers. “And my Keyblade can undo any lock. Including the one on that cell.”

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea, Sora?” Telary asks, sticking his face out of the bars and looking at the Keybearer concernedly. “I mean, this man is a criminal!”

“Really?” Jack blurts, rearing back to look miffed at the wizard. “After all of the time we’ve spent bonding in this cell, you still think of me that way? I must say, Celery, I am hurt!”

“My name is Telary,” the wizard corrects with an eye roll.

“Um, there’s another thing I forgot to mention,” Sora informs his traveling companion. “Pete was hanging around with the pirates I guess and, uh, they kind of got Azlyn too.”

“What!” Telary blurts, his jaw dropping open. Grimacing, he pulls his staff from its holster. “Stand back, I’m busting out of here!”

“You still haven’t made a convincing argument as to why I should help you lot,” Jack interjects, holding Telary back with one arm. He looks at Will with a raised eyebrow. “In fact, I don’t even know your name, lad.”

“My name is William Turner,” Will answers. “And I am begging you to help me.”

“William _Turner_ ,” Jack says with a sly grin. “Named after your father, I’d imagine?”

“Um yes in fact,” Will says quietly, obviously a bit shocked. “How did you…?”

“Great, we all know each other!” Telary interrupts. “Now are we going to save our friends or what?”

“Alright, Mr. Turner, Mr. Tersely,” Jack says, stepping away from the bars. “I shall help you rescue your lost lady loves.”

“Oh, I don’t _love_ Azlyn,” Telary chuckles, instantly coming down from his frantic panicking. “Well, I do, but not in a romantic way.”

“All I need to know from you all is how far you’re willing to go for these women,” Jack asks the group at large.

“I’d die for Elizabeth,” Will says without hesitation.

“I’d die for Azlyn too,” Telary agrees.

“Well, that’s all right then!” Jack exclaims happily. “Make with the escaping!”

Sora raises the Keyblade and unleashes its power of unlocking. Jack rushes out of the cell and to a small alcove where a pile of objects lay: sword, pistol, and a small black compass. His effects collected, he leads the group out of the cellblock. They sneak through the fort and rush down to a small beach at the harbor’s edge.

“The fastest ship on the docks is going to be the _Interceptor_ ,” Will tells the group. “It’s dock should be somewhere…”

“I’m afraid that I’m going to have to veto that notion, mate,” jack says with a shake of his head. “When it comes to ships, I was thinking more along the lines of… That!”

Following Jack’s finger, the group looks across the harbor to the huge war ship floating near the harbor’s mouth.

“Are you mad?” Will hollers at Jack in disbelief. “That’s the _Dauntless_! It’s a military ship, and most likely full of soldiers, and you want to _steal_ it?”

“Of course not!” Jack shoots back, offended. “I want to _acquire_ that ship.” He turns and gives Sora and Telary a lecturing look. “That’s a nautical term, acquire.”

“We let this guy out of prison _why_ , again?” Telary mutters to his younger friend.

“To help Azlyn,” the Keybearer replies.

“Right,” Telary says back. “What next?”

They go in an overturned longboat, walking into the water and creating an air pocket for survival.

“This is either madness, or genius,” Will sighs about halfway through the journey.

“You’d be surprised how often those traits coincide, dear William,” Jack replies back, grinning heartily.

“Oop!” Telary exclaims, his steps momentarily faltering.

“What is it?” Sora asks, concerned. “Are you okay Tel?”

“I stepped on some kind of wooden thing,” the wizard replies nervously. “It’s caught on my foot. Oh, and I think there’s a lobster in it!”

Reaching the _Dauntless_ , the quarter begins a quiet climb up the back of the ship, thankful for the cover of darkness concealing them from any eyes on shore.

“Now remember lads, follow me lead,” Jack whispers to his motley crew. “You’re pirates now, and I expect you to act like it.”

“Did you hear that Telary?” Sora excitedly whispers to his companion. “He said we’re pirates!”

“King Mickey would be so proud,” he replies with an eye roll.

There’s only a small crew on deck, about a half-dozen redcoats and one lieutenant in a blue coat. All the better for Jack’s acquisition plan.

“How do you do, gents?” Jack calls as he saunters down the stairs from the quarterdeck. “My name is Captain Jack Sparrow, and I am…”

“Avast!” Will yells, his sword drawn menacingly.

“Prepare to be scuppered, ya bilge rats!” Sora chimes in, his voice over-the-top guttural. Telary follows along behind him, but is far too embarrassed to say anything.

Jack turns back to his crew with a disappointed, deadpan look.

The soldiers on deck laugh at the antics and hopelessness of the “raiders” announcement, hardly concerned.

“Is this all of you, then?” the lieutenant laughs. “How exactly do you expect to crew this ship with _four_ men?”

“Just as I said, mates,” Jack replies smugly. “I’m Captain _Jack Sparrow_.”

The soldiers are paddling away fearfully in a longboat only moments later, though whether it was the pirate’s proclamation or the fireball Telary had magically conjured is the mitigating factor in that decision remains unclear.

It isn’t long before, as the only functioning ship still available, the _HMS Interceptor_ arrives under the command of Commodore Norrington. Coming up alongside the warship and quickly setting up ramps and grappling hooks, a crew of two dozen soldiers arrives on the deck of the _Dauntless_.

“Search every inch of this ship,” Norrington commands his men, imperiously striding across the moonlit deck. “I want them found in five minutes, and hanged by morning. Is that clear?”

There’s a sudden splash off the port side, and Norrington rushes to the ship’s side just in time to see the _Interceptor_ pulling away, Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm.

“Clear as crystal, my dear commodore!” the pirate calls over to the warship with a jaunty wave of his hand. “Thanks for getting the ship ready for us!”

A sudden gust of wind fills the ship’s sails, and the _Interceptor_ and its new, illegitimate crew sails into the open water.

“We did it!” Sora exclaims, jumping up and down excitedly. “We stole…” Jack turns to him with a stern look. “…We acquired a ship!”

“I wouldn’t celebrate yet, Sora,” Will cautions the Keybearer. “It will be a simple matter for them to swing around and give us a taste of their guns. Or hadn’t the great Jack Sparrow thought of that?”

Jack’s triumphant look turns hurt. “First of all, it’s _Captain_ Jack Sparrow,” he refutes. “And secondly… I might not have.”

Suddenly a loud crash rings out behind the _Interceptor_. Turning, Sora and Will see that the _Dauntless_ has swung out and crashed into the longboat that contains the men the group had liberated the ship from. It sticks there, guns pointed at empty air rather than the _Interceptor_.

“Of course, sometimes I just get lucky,” Jack concedes.

“Actually, that’s on me,” Telary says, drawing all attention to him. For a moment he just looks sheepish, but eventually he composes himself. “I saw some chain that looked important, so I melted it.”

“Must have been connected to their rudder,” Will muses thoughtfully.

“Nicely done, Toboggan!” Jack congratulates the wizard, reaching one hand over to thump him on his back. “You’ll be a proper pirate yet, you will!”

Telary takes a step away from the captain and heaves a deep sigh. “Arrr,” he says emotionlessly.

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn and Elizabeth aren’t alone in the brig long before Pintel and Ragetti arrive, the wooden-eyed pirate holding a red dress in his hands.

“Captain says you’re to join him for a spot of supper,” Pintel informs the pair.

“It’s the middle of the night!” Elizabeth protests.

“Hold on there, sister,” Azlyn says to her cellmate. “It might not be a good idea to turn down a request from this guy.” Azlyn knows she can protect herself against the pirates if necessary, but would rather not take chances with Elizabeth. Besides, her stomach is growling, and a meal might be nice.

“He also says he’d like you to wear this here dress Miss Turner,” Ragetti adds, holding up the garment in his hands and leering lewdly at the girl.

“I hardly think…” Elizabeth begins.

“Its either this or nothin’, Captain said,” Pintel chuckles, his leering making Ragetti’s look small time in comparison.

Scowling, Elizabeth grabs the dress. The pirates definitely seem disappointed by her decision.

“Anything for me?” the knight asks her captor’s defiantly.

Pintel look over to her, face impassive. “Naw, you can come as you are.”

Azlyn frowns. In a really weird way, she’s insulted.

Barbossa’s cabin is very finely appointed, with a lovely rug and huge dark-stained table set up before several windows offering ample view of the sea behind them. The table is also stacked with all manner of food, everything from fruits and vegetables to an entire smoked pig. Everything is lit by a few low-burning candles scattered around the room.

Barbossa is standing by the window when the ladies come in, Jack the monkey perched on his shoulder. When he hears his guest arrives, he turns and gestures for them to take their seats at his table. Azlyn rushes into hers, the smell of pork driving her wild with desire. Elizabeth is more cautious, slowly lowering herself into her chair.

Jack leaps off Barbossa’s shoulder and up onto a horizontal wooden pole hanging from the ceiling. It swings back and forth as the capuchin twitches his tail. Barbossa takes his seat at the head of the table, and as she tears off a meaty hunk of the pig, Azlyn notices that he still holds the gold coin medallion in his hand. Now that she’s closer, she sees that a skull decorates its face.

“What’s with the shiny?” she asks through a mostly full mouth. Elizabeth, shocked by her fellow captive’s lack of propriety, begins carefully cutting into her own piece of meat.

“Oh, this be no ordinary bit of loot, lass,” Barbossa replies. He leans back and lets the medallion dangle, eyeing a bowl of green apples but not touching any of the food before him. “This be an Aztec gold coin. One of eight-hundred and eighty-two identical gold pieces presented to Cortez himself. Cursed, all of them.”

Elizabeth frowns. “I’m twenty years old. I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain,” she says dismissively before taking another bite.

Some of the freakier stuff she’s dealt with in the last year comes to Azlyn’s mind, but she keeps on eating without sharing any stories. And, as Barbossa seems distracted by his tale, she spirits away a small knife onto her lap.

“I said much the same thing when I heard of the treasure, I did,” Barbossa admits with a sardonic chuckle. “I thought it were some fairy tale meant to scare off men of… ambition, like meself. A cursed treasure buried on an island that cannot be found, excepting those who already know where it is.”

“But…?” Azlyn prompts. There’s always a _but_ where these kinds of stories are concerned.

“But find it we did,” Barbossa continues with a fond smile. “The island, the cave, the chest… The coins.” The smile falters for a moment, and when it returns it’s different. Bittersweet. “We took ‘em all, and spent ‘em as we saw fit. Fritterin’ them away on food, and drink…” The pirate eyes the girls briefly. “…And pleasurable company.”

“Well it seems you really have lived the ‘pirate’s life’, Barbie,” Azlyn compliments, the nickname earning her a miffed frown.

“It may seem that way in the tellin’, lass,” Barbossa concedes, his expression transitioning quickly to sadness and horror. “But as we lived the life, we discovered the price it came at. The drink would never satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and the pleasurable company offered nothing but numbness.” He stares down dully at the ladies, who look on with intense interest. “We are cursed men, Miss Turner, Miss Azlyn. We taste nothing, feel nothing… We _are_ nothing. Compelled by greed we were… Now we are _consumed_ by it.”

“How unfortunate,” Elizabeth says without emotion. Azlyn is once again impressed by the young lady’s courage.

“There is one way for our curse to be reversed,” Barbossa says, slowly rising from his chair. “If every one of the cursed coins are restored to the chest, and the blood is repaid, we may once again return to the ranks of humanity.

“And so, for these past ten years we have pillaged and plundered every ship, every town, and every _man_ we could lay hands on, in a desperate search for all of the cursed coins. One-hundred and eighty-one gold coins we found, and every drop of blood that was required.” He turns fully to Elizabeth, smiling and taking a step closer. “Now, we finally have the eight-hundred and eighty-second.”

“And… the blood?” the girl says slowly, only managing to look upon the pirate for seconds before she turns away in fear. “The blood that’s to be repaid?”

“Well, you surely must have wondered why we weren’t killin’ ye, Miss Turner,” Barbossa says smoothly, a wry smile on his lips. He only takes a single step towards the girl, but there’s plenty of menace in it.

The one step is all Barbossa gets before Azlyn jumps up hurls her knife at him, burying it in his chest to the hilt. The pirate lets out a loud noise of pain and alarm before stumbling back. Elizabeth rises quickly from her chair and heads for the door, Azlyn turning to follow.

She only manages a half-revolution before Jack the monkey’s earsplitting shriek rings out behind her. Grunting, she turns back and lets loose with her fist, a vicious backhand that knocks the capuchin backwards through the air.

She turns and regards Jack with a satisfied smile, but her victory is interrupted by a scream of fear from Elizabeth. Quickly, she turns and rushes to her fellow kidnapee’s aid. She rushes out the open cabin door into the night, and stops dead in her tracks.

The pirate crew has assembled in front of the doors, standing around and glowering at their prisoners. But no longer are they regular scruffy unwashed vagabonds. With the full moon shining is brilliant blue light down on the _Black Pearl_ , her crew’s true forms stand revealed.

Standing before Azlyn and Elizabeth is a veritable legion of half-dead immortal zombie skeletons, covered in calcification and seaweed and rot that nearly sends the girls’ dinner back up.

“’Ello, poppets,” Pintel greets the ladies with a smile that’s the stuff of nightmares. “Enjoy the dinner?”

“Bet ya twenty munny I know what that curse Barbossa mentioned involves,” Azlyn says to Elizabeth, both of them too numbed with horror to move.

There’s the sound of heavy boots behind them, and the ladies turn to see Barbossa, apparently none the worse for having been stabbed. He smiles his own crocodile grin at them, and it makes Pintel’s look absolutely pageant-worthy in comparison. In his hand is a bottle of dark purple wine.

“You best start believin’ in ghost stories, Miss Turner,” he chuckles, popping the lid off his wine with a single bony finger. “You’re in one!”

With a hearty laugh of triumph, he guzzles the entire bottle of wine in one gulp. The rich liquid cascades down his empty rib cage before spilling out onto the deck. The sight of it sends Azlyn reeling on her feet, and noticing this, Barbossa laughs.

“I suppose the proper phrase would be… Boo?”

**KH-KH-KH**

“You only agreed to help me when you learned my name,” Will says to Jack as the pair watch Sora and Telary attempt to get the sails at full brace. “And you seemed particularly interested in my father. Why?”

The _Interceptor_ is truly out to see now, the island of Port Royal not even a speck on the horizon behind it.

“I knew him,” Jack replies coolly, wincing as Telary lets loose a rope that knocks Sora on his butt. “Sailed with him.”

“You’re lying!” Will yells, drawing the attention of Sora and Telary. “My father was an honest merchant! A decent man!”

“And a pirate,” Jack shoots back, eyes narrowed at the young blacksmith. “You can be both, you know. I knew quite a few actually.”

“Knew?” Sora asks as he and Telary arrive on the quarterdeck.

“You can be a good man _and_ a pirate, that’s true,” Jack answers sagely. “But goin’ along that path usually leads to an early death, savvy?”

“So all of those letters he sent to me…” Will says quietly, emotion welling up within him.

“Fabrications most likely,” Jack interjects, shaking his head. “Bald-faced lies to appease your tiny childhood imagination.”

“You’ve got a real way with words, Jack,” Sora notes.

“ _Captain_ Jack, if you please,” the pirate corrects.

“Okay, so we’re on the open sea now, that’s great,” Telary says as Will takes Sora and goes to tend the sails and get his mind off this new revelation. “But how are we supposed to find Azlyn and Elizabeth?”

Jack smiles and reaches into his pocket, pulling out his black compass and holding it up in the ample light of the moon. “With this!”

With a quick flip of his wrist he opens its lid, revealing a wildly spinning needle inside. Telary looks from the compass to Jack, who smiles at him broadly.

“This compass is broken, Jack,” he deadpans, narrowing his eyes as the pirate. “Compasses point north!” Within seconds, the wizard’s staff is in hand. “And my fireball is about to be pointed at you!” Sora backs away from the pair, unaccustomed to seeing this kind of rage in Telary.

Jack tuts softly and shakes his head, disappointed. “For a bloke what follows around a spiky haired teenager with a magical key fighting creatures of pure shadow, you seem to have an oddly low belief threshold.”

At the word “threshold”, the compass needle snaps to attention. It’s still not pointed north, but at least it isn’t wildly waving around anymore.

“What kind of…?”

“All you need to know, my dear Tepidly, is that this compass can lead us to the _Black Pearl_ , and your special lady,” Jack smugly replies, whistling jauntily as he turns the wheel a bit westerly, the _Interceptor_ realigning its course.

“My name isn’t... Azlyn’s not…” Telary begins to protest, but stops when he realizes it’s useless. “Well, as long as we find her.”

“You seem to know a lot about the _Black Pearl_ , Jack,” Sora says, pulling hard on a line to secure it. “What’s the story?”

“Tis a dark and sorted tale, dear Sauna,” Jack says slowly, gazing out into the middle distance. “Once, I was the captain of the _Black Pearl_ , and Barbossa my first mate. We had our sights set on the same legendary treasure. Aztec gold, valuable beyond our dreams.”

“And he betrayed you?” Will scoffs, shaking his head. “That’s just like you pirates, looking out only for your own interests.”

“He told me that in a crew, everything ought to be an equal share,” jack sighs sadly. “And, like a fool I gave him the location of the Isla de Muerta, where the treasure was hidden. As I said, you can’t be an honest man and a pirate for long before it catches up to you. The next night, he led a bloody mutiny against me.”

“I’m sorry Jack,” Sora says sympathetically, helping Telary tug another line.

“I’ll get back what’s mine, and no mistake,” Jack swears, his mouth set in a grim line of determination.

“And the treasure?” Will says somewhat mockingly. “I’m sure you’ll be wanting that.”

Jack shakes his head. “No mate, way I hear it told there’s a dreadful curse on that booty,” he replies distastefully. “Besides, some things are greater than treasure. Things like freedom. That’s what a ship really is, my friends. Sure it has rigging and sails and a mast and those things but what it _is_ is freedom. The ability to go where you wish, be who you wish.”

For a moment no one else says anything, too wrapped up in Jack’s description of a life lived entirely on one’s own terms.

“Wow, Jack,” Telary says quietly, impressed. “I never really thought of you as…”

“Of course, in the course of ten years piratin’, ol’ Barbossa must have collected a veritable horde of _un_ cursed treasure as well,” Jack interrupts, his smile going from wistful to ecstatic in the blink of an eye. “I’ll probably take as much of _that_ as I can get my sticky pirate fingers on!”

Telary shakes his head, moving back to his sailing duties. At the very least, it’s nice to know that the man he’s trusting to save Azlyn isn’t a complete _jerk_.

Somehow, that isn’t the most reassuring thought in the world.

Sora watches the wizard tug a line harder than seems strictly necessary, frowning. It really isn’t like Telary to be acting so aggressive, but he supposes Azlyn’s never really been in danger the wizard couldn’t immediately help her out of.

Sora knows the feeling well, recalling how worried he’d been about Riku and Kairi during his journey last year. Even now, knowing Kairi is back the islands and safe, he can’t help but worry something unfortunate will befall her. And that’s not even mentioning Riku, who could be anywhere in the universe, in any kind of danger imaginable.

“You look like a troubled lad,” Jack says suddenly startling Sora and making him jump. The pirate looks between the Keybearer and Telary thoughtfully. “You and that ginger after the same lass?”

“No,” Sora replies quickly, sticking out his tongue and shaking his head. “I have a… I’m with someone else. Telary’s sister, in fact.”

Jack nods. “That’s for the best mate,” he informs the boy sagely. “In my youth me and a mate lusted for the same chicky. It was a terrible time in my life.”

“And how did that end up?”

Jack’s nostalgic look turns lecherous. “As I recall, all three of us ended up getting _plenty_ of pleasure out of the deal.”

Sora quirks and eyebrow as he tries to decipher the captain’s meaning. When he realizes it, he grimaces and backs away.

Perhaps it would be for the best if the rest of the voyage were made in _complete_ silence.


	14. X Marks The Spot

The _Interceptor_ pulls into the large cove at the edge of Isla de Muerta, and with quite a bit of effort Sora and Telary manage to drop the anchor into the water. Across the cove, the _Black Pearl_ floats menacingly.

“Alright then,” Jack says, sauntering across the deck to where the longboats are stored. “Me and young Turner will go rescue the ladies, and you two lads stay and guard the ship.”

“No way,” Sora and Telary protest simultaneously.

“Azlyn is in that cave too,” the wizard says, pushing past Sora and stepping up to captain. “And no offense, but I’d prefer it be me who rescues her!”

“And guard duty sounds so lame!” Sora whines.

“Well, you can’t both go,” Jack firmly informs the pair. “Somebody has to stay and guard the bloody ship! It’s um, part of the Pirate Code!”

“Really?” Telary deadpans with a raised eyebrow.

“ _Really_ ,” Jack shoots back belligerently. “Article X, subsection D, paragraph, um, eight! ‘The ship must always be guarded’! So there!”

“It doesn’t look like they’ve got a guard on the _Pearl_ , Jack,” Will says smugly.

“Then I’ll send a message to the bloody _union_ about it!”

“Go ahead and go, Telary,” Sora sighs, waving his friend toward the boats. “I can stay here. Obviously rescuing Azlyn is really important to you.”

“Thanks Sora,” the wizard says with a hand on his younger friend’s shoulder. “I promise, you can handle the next really dangerous rescue.”

“That’s all I ask,” Sora replies with a witty grin.

**KH-KH-KH**

The crew of the _Black Pearl_ file into a small cave ringed by piles of treasure. Gold, jewels, artifacts, even a few watercolor paintings lay in the cave, the collective result of a ten year reign of terror.

But all is subordinate to the lidded stone chest that lays upon a slab of rock in the dead middle of the cave. A hole to the outside world gapes above it, shining moonlight around it like a silver spotlight.

Azlyn is tossed to the base of the pile of uncursed plunder at the base of the rock, wincing as her butt lands directly on a sharp gem. When they’d arrived at the Isla de Muerta, Pete was nowhere to be seen, and as a “courtesy” Barbossa offered Azlyn the chance to witness his crew’s return to the ranks of true humanity.

Things aren’t great for her, but looking up at Elizabeth she decides she should count her blessing. The young woman stands directly behind the stone chest, a skeletal Barbossa gripping her wrist tightly in one hand. The captain’s other hand holds a stone dagger.

Two pirates take up positions on either side of the chest, and at a nod from Barbossa they lift off the lid, revealing one-hundred and eighty-one pieces of gold identical to the one Barbossa now holds. Even knowing their dark power, Azlyn can’t help but feel a pang of wanting for them. For the sake of improving her mood, she discreetly stuffs a few harmless rubies into her pockets.

As the pirates take the lid down the golden slope, the moon above slips behind a cloud, returning Barbossa’s fleshy mask. Grimacing, Azlyn looks away, her eyes wandering across the cavern to a small slit in the rock of the back wall.

With a start, the knight realizes that three faces can be seen in the gap, peering down at the pirate’s gathering with keen interest. Two of them she doesn’t know, but the third is…

Telary!

**KH-KH-KH**

“Azlyn,” Telary whispers nervously, biting his lip as he looks over the scene. “I think… Oh, I think she sees us!”

Jack examines the lass at the bottom of the treasure pile closely, soon coming to the same conclusion as he wizard.

“That she does, lad,” he replies, turning to look at the redhead. This puts Will in his line of sight as well, and the young blacksmith looks twice as reckless as the wizard.

“We’ve got to move now!” Will demands, as in the background Barbossa can be heard starting up some grand spiel that Jack is sure is a bunch of nonsense. Obviously, Jack appreciates a bit of theatricality, but Barbossa more often than not tends to lapse into grandstanding.

“No, young William,” the pirate chides. “Not yet. We must wait for the opportune moment.”

“When it’s of greatest use to you?” Telary snarls at the captain. Jack just shrugs in return.

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn barely hears Barbossa’s big speech, focusing instead on Telary and the two strangers. There seems to be some kind of disagreement going on. And where is Sora?

A quick bout of chittering alerts Azlyn to Jack the monkey’s approach. Not wishing to give her rescue squad away, she quickly returns the defiant scowl to her face and turns to look up at Barbossa.

“Begun by blood!” the pirate captain declares in his grandiose manner, dagger raised to the sky. “By blood undone.”

Barbossa slowly lowers his knife to Elizabeth’s hand, as the rest of the crew chant some odd liturgy. Azlyn squirms as she looks on, wishing that she could do something. Sadly, even if she could subdue Barbossa, I would only be a matter of time before the rest of the pirates got her and Elizabeth both.

Elizabeth hisses as the sharp blade grazes her hand, opening a thin gash that blood wells out of quickly.

“That’s it?” the girl says to the captain, a look of puzzlement across her face.

Barbossa shrugs as he swipes the medallion across her palm, covering it in the blood the ritual requires. “Waste not!”

Turning Elizabeth’s palm over, Barbossa drops the bloodied coin into the stone chest, where it lands with a pretty anticlimactic tinkling noise. Closing his eyes, the pirate captain raises his hands and tips his head back reverently.

Turning to the rest of the crew, Azlyn can see that they’re all reacting similarly, letting the feeling of true humanity float through them once again.

That lasts for about three seconds before someone raises their head and says, “Did it work?”

“I dunno,” Pintel says, running his eyes over his body contemplatively. “I really don’t _feel_ any different.”

A thoughtful look on his face, Barbossa smoothly draws out his pistol and fires a single shot into the balding pirate’s chest. Pintel goes frigid, eyes bugging out and mouth dropping open in shock.

“Huh,” he says after a moment, looking down to examine the bullet lodged in his chest. “Well that was… Hey, you bloody shot me!” Huffing indignantly, he quickly fishes the metal ball out.

“It didn’t work!” an irate pirate cries out angrily. This comment unleashes a frightened murmur among the entire crew.

“What kind of gyp is this?”

“Did we use enough blood?”

“I mean, was it really necessary to just up and _shoot_ me?”

“I hear you, Pintel, I really do.”

Barbossa angrily rounds on Elizabeth. “You! Is your name _Turner_?”

Elizabeth looks her captive defiantly in the eye and utters a single, devastating word.

“No.”

Barbossa screams in frustration, rearing back and striking the girl across the head. She lets out a cry and falls backwards down the pile, landing in the low water that’s leached into the cavern over the years.

Taking advantage of the pirate’s distraction, Azlyn rushes to the girl’s side, only to find when she gets there that the young man who Sora had helped while she went after Elizabeth is already kneeling at the girl’s side, rousing her back to coherence.

“Will!” Elizabeth whispers exclamatorily, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the man. He raises a finger to his lips and gestures sharply with his head toward the exit.

Elizabeth nods and reaches down to grab something off the floor. Looking down, Azlyn can see that it’s the medallion!

“Come along,” Will says to the ladies. “Telary has the boat ready!” Taking great care to remain stealthy, the trio make their way out of the cave’s back entrance.

True to Will’s word, Telary sits at the helm of the longboat, both oars gripped in his hands. Of course, as soon as he spies Azlyn he drops them to the floor of the boat and grabs his friend in an embrace.

“You’re safe,” he says happily.

“Please, Telary,” Azlyn says with a playful eye roll, allowing the hug to continue for an appropriate amount of time before pushing the wizard away gently. She’s grateful that the dark cavern can hide her blush. “It was just a bunch of pirates. No big deal, really.”

“She’s been like that this whole ordeal,” Elizabeth comments as she settles into her seat next to Will. “Never seemed fazed once.”

“That sure sounds like her,” Telary agrees with a giggle, affectionately ruffling the knight’s hair. Azlyn doesn’t receive that well, frowning and backing away from her counterpart to take a seat closer to Will and Elizabeth than him.

“Let’s just go,” she urges him, glancing nervously back towards the treasure cavern. “It won’t be long before…”

The perturbed voices of the _Black Pearl_ ’s crew rise up from not far away, and the sound of feet rushing towards them prompts Telary to quickly grab the oars once again and start rowing at top speed, quickly putting as much distance between the pirates and his friends as he can.

There’s a definite nervous silence as Telary rows the longboat back to the _Interceptor_ , everyone quite aware of the danger of being caught up to by the angry pirate horde.

“You came here in the _Interceptor_?” Elizabeth exclaims, sounding shocked. “How ever did you get it past the _Dauntless_?”

“It, uh, it took some doing,” Telary chimes in nervously.

“Wait a minute!” Azlyn interrupts, turning to stare at her counterpart. “Telary, you stole a ship?”

“Well, I mean, I helped.”

Azlyn snorts amusedly, giving the wizard a smile that hits right at his heart. “That’s still pretty hardcore Tel.”

They eventually reach the ill-gotten vessel and clamber aboard.

“Azlyn!” Sora cries joyfully, pulling the girl into a happy hug. She accepts it more readily than Telary’s, which momentarily gives the wizard pause.

“Alright everyone, let’s get ready to sail,” Will orders the trio, already heading for the rudder. “I don’t know why those pirates haven’t come after us yet, but…”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Sora suddenly speaks up, looking around the _Interceptor_ ’s deck and doing a quick head count. “We’re missing one person. Where’s Jack?”

Telary and Will exchange quick, nervous glances at one another.

“Well,” Telary begins, gulping nervously ad tugging at his collar, “the thing about that is that, um…”

“We never could have truly trusted Jack,” Will picks up, his voice hard and determined. “He’s a pirate through and through, and might have betrayed us at the first opportunity.”

“Yeah, what he said,” Telary agrees with a nod. “Also, I kind of hit him on the head.”

“Telary!” Azlyn exclaims, sounding shocked and yet impressed.

“Jack isn’t like the kind of pirate you hear about in fairy stories,” Will continues, his jaw set and locked tight. “He’s a dangerous man.”

“Okay…” Sora says nervously, his stomach turning a little at the idea of abandoning Jack to his fate. Maybe he hadn’t been the best person in the universe, but still…

“Well, are we going or are we going?’ Azlyn demands, stepping up to a piece of rigging and wrapping her hand around it. “Let’s get a move on, people!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Barbossa scowls as Pintel, Ragetti, and another pair of crewmen drag a nervous-looking Jack Sparrow into the treasure cavern.

“I thought I sent ye after the girl,” the captain says to his men, a threatening hint in his voice. “Not to pick up trash.”

“He declared parley,” Pintel grudgingly informs his captain. “Down to the depths with whoever invented parley, I say.”

“I believe it was the French,” Jack chimes in helpfully. When this draws irate glares from the men surrounding him, he wisely closes his mouth.

“I admit, I’m somewhat amazed you made it off that island, Jack,” Barbossa says, letting a smug half-grin spread across his face. “Ye must have put the one shot we gave ya to damned good use.”

“Haven’t fired it yet, actually,” Jack replies. His eyes narrow dangerously. “Waiting for the perfect target, savvy?”

Barbossa snorts. “Well, unless ye can give me a very, _very_ good reason, I may just have to make that target _you_ , Jack. Ya know how much I love irony.”

“I could never forget, dear Hector.” The use of his first name brings a scowl to the cursed pirate’s face but Jack either doesn’t notice or care. “Which is why I think you’ll be pleased when I inform you that I have the solution to your little… problem.”

Barbossa pauses a moment to think, his lips pursed curiously. “And what might that be, Jack?”

“The girl you nabbed was a dud,” Jack explains. “She was no true blood of Bootstrap Bill, who you so carelessly tossed down to the depths of the ocean, and that coin was not hers.” Jack pauses for dramatic effect, allowing himself a small smile as he surveys the mutinous crew surrounding him. “But, as it turns out, I have located the one whose blood you seek. The true heir of Bootstrap Bill.”

“Oh, have ye now Jack?” Barbossa says with an intrigued smile. “Have ye really?”

**KH-KH-KH**

Telary takes a deep breath, inhaling the salty sea air and allowing it to calm him. He’s behind the wheel of the _Interceptor_ , and it’s almost surprising how easily he’s taken to being in command of this vessel, so different from the Gummi ship he’s used to. The principles are remarkably similar, except there’s only one plane of motion, his vessel is bigger and beholden to gravitational laws, he’s relying on the power of the wind instead of...

Okay, so it isn’t actually that similar at all, but somehow he’s still managing. Will and Elizabeth went belowdecks not long ago, apparently in need of a one-on-one talk. It’s clear to Telary that the pair very much care for each other.

“Is there anything you can’t drive?”

Azlyn’s voice shocks the wizard out of his relaxing state, and he turns to see her standing beside him, glancing briefly at his hands on the wheel before returning her gaze to the ocean ahead.

“I still can’t believe you actually stole this ship,” the knight snorts, shaking her head at the mental image of Telary as any kind of lawbreaker.

“Jack said the term is _acquired_ , Azlyn,” Sora chimes in, leaning against the wooden rail at the ship’s stern and watching their vessel’s wake on the water below. “It’s more nautical.”

“I really don’t want you taking anything that man said to heart, Sora,” Telary lectures his young friend. “However friendly he might have seemed, he was still a lawless criminal.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sora admits, though there’s a definite edge to his voice. “I mean, it was super cold the way he knocked you out and left you at the mercy of all those pirates… Oh, wait, _you_ were the one who did that to _him_.” With a clearly disgusted eye roll, the Keybearer turns away and stalks down the stairs to the main deck.

Telary watches him go, guilt beginning its slow and agonizing meal on the wizard’s stomach. It _had_ been a cold thing he and Will had done, despite every justification he tries to come up with. He hadn’t had time to think about it when his attention was occupied with Azlyn’s safety, but now…

“I’m sorry,” his counterpart says suddenly, interrupting the wizard’s mental anguish.

He looks at her with a curiously raised eyebrow. “What are you sorry about, Azlyn? It wasn’t you fault…”

“Yeah, it kinda was,” she sighs, turning away from him and taking steps toward the starboard rail. “If I hadn’t let myself get kidnapped...”

“Now, Azlyn, don’t you dare think like that,” Telary scolds her gently, taking his gaze from the open water to the knight. “You were doing the right thing, helping out Elizabeth like that. You were doing a heroic thing…” He pauses heavily. “Which is more than I can say for some of the stuff _I’ve_ done tonight.”

“Everything you did was for me,” Azlyn assures him, placing a friendly hand gently on his shoulder. “And it was all very sweet, in its way. After all, most guys wouldn’t go around stealing ships and sucker punching pirates to save a girl.” He looks into her eyes, seeing the gratitude there, and maybe something else as well…

“Just, uh, don’t make me have to make a habit of it,” he replies awkwardly, looking away.

“Trust me, I won’t,” Azlyn promises her best friend, grinning as she removes her hand from him. “And who knows, maybe next time it’ll be your turn to get nabbed.”

On the main deck, Will and Elizabeth come up from the hold, never letting one get less than two feet away from the other. Whatever conversation they’d had down there, it seems to have been a productive one.

Sora watches them discreetly, his heart once again aching for Kairi. But even if the boy were to turn away, he’d still have the sight of the ocean to bring back memories that are all too painful at the moment. He turns his head away to maybe get a moment of peace…

“Uh, guys!” he calls out, drawing everyone inboard’s attention to him. He bites his lip and advances up the deck, growing more worried with every passing second. “We’ve got trouble!”

Everyone turns to see what it is Sora is referring to, although in their guts they’re already all aware. The _Black Pearl_ trails behind them, getting closer by the second, its black sails eerily illuminated by the full moon hanging unobscured in the sky.

“In hindsight, we really should have been better prepared for this,” Telary mutters nervously.

“How can they be catching us so easily?” Will exclaims, pounding his fist against the deck railing. “The _Interceptor_ is the fastest ship on the seas!”

“You might wanna tell _them_ that, fancy boy!” Azlyn shoots back at the blacksmith. “Maybe they’ll…”

The knight’s insult is lost as a cannonball strikes the water just behind the _Interceptor_ , shaking the boat like a bead in a rattle. Everyone manages to stay upright, but only barely.

“Well, at least they gave us a warning shot, that was considerate,” Telary nervously points out, tugging at his collar.

“We’ve got plenty of cannons of our own,” Azlyn points out with a sweeping gesture to the guns that line the deck, three to a side. She vaults over the quarterdeck’s front rail onto the deck. “If they can hit us, we can hit them.”

“You’re mad if you think we could last in a battle with that ship!” Elizabeth admonishes the girl. Apparently the sisterhood of kidnapping victims is quickly lost in dangerous situations.

“What would Jack do?” Sora asks, yelping as another cannonball splashes into the water just off the starboard side, sending up a huge column of seawater.

“He’d probably run away,” Will answers, sounding dismissive.

Another blast against the port, close enough to send water splashing over Telary. He sputters momentarily, but soon manages to regain his composure.

“That sounds like a good idea to me,” the pilot says agreeably.

“But Telary, I thought you said we shouldn’t listen to Jack’s…” Sora begins faux-innocently.

“Now is not the time for that, Sora!”

The _Black Pearl_ draws first blood, a cannon blast slamming into the very edge of the stern. It’s only a graze, but the impact is sufficient to unsteady the entire vessel. With a helpless cry, Will stumbles and falls over the deck.

“Will!” Elizabeth calls out desperately. She makes a run for the edge but Sora holds her back.

“It’s too dangerous to stand near the edge!” he commands, a note of sadness for his fallen comrade evident in his voice. He notices, however, that a shiny golden medallion lays where Will had just been standing. He bends down to pick it up, examining it for a moment before stuffing it in his pocket.

“They’re getting even closer!” Azlyn yells. “Where are all the freakin’ cannonballs?”

“The ship must not have been stocked!” Elizabeth says worriedly. “We’re helpless!”

“They’re pulling up close,” Telary calls out cautiously. “I think we’re just gonna have to make a fight of it!”

“No problem for me,” Azlyn declares confidently, pulling her shield off her back. Sora had been keeping it for her during her captivity, but now she’s ready to once again take up the weapon and use it against the villains who dared kidnap her. “Let’s shiver us some timbers, boys!”

The loud _clink_ of nearly a dozen grappling hooks finding purchase in the _Interceptor_ ’s rigging draws the trio to battle-readiness. The _Black Pearl_ floats only yards away now, and easy distance for the cursed pirates to cover.

The appearance of the skeletal buccaneers momentarily startles both Sora and Telary, unfamiliar as they are with the dreaded chest’s curse. But the boys are far too experience with scary weirdness to let it paralyze them for long.

A pirate with a large cutlass lands directly before Sora, beginning a brutal struggle of swordsmanship. Another goes after Telary with a pair of hatchets, and two more team up on Azlyn.

Making sure Elizabeth is safely behind him, Telary thrusts his staff out and fires off a Blizzaga spell that fully engulfs his opponent in hardened ice. The thrill of victory is quickly tempered by a small, skeletal capuchin falling out of the sky.

Jack the monkey stays on Telary’s shoulder barely a moment before leaping to the deck, his nose primed to sniff out the medallion his master requires. Smelling the object somewhere on the boy with the key, he screeches and bounds after his target.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Azlyn yells defiantly, rushing Jack and unleashing a kick that sends the capuchin careening into the mast.

The undead primate recovers with pronounced speed, leaping back at the knight with an angry shriek. She raises her shield to block the attack, but Jack only crawls over it and leaps for her face. Grunting in surprise, Azlyn drops her shield to the deck and wraps both hands around the monkey, pulling it with all her might. Jack’s grip on her ponytail is strong, however, and the odd opponents struggle against each other fiercely.

Sora yells and swipes his Keyblade against a pirate’s chest, sending the man stumbling back. He takes a deep breath, already looking for a new target. His gaze instead lands on Azlyn and Jack’s battle, and for a moment he just stops and stares at the odd altercation.

That distraction proves costly, however, as a burly pirate slams into the Keybearer from behind, knocking him to the deck with such force that the medallion goes flying from his pocket, its golden sheen glinting in the moonlight.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack the monkey notices. Letting out a triumphant cry, he disengages from Azlyn and dives for the golden coin and its chain.

Azlyn is having none of that though, grabbing the capuchin’s tail and hurling him against the deck. He turns and goes for her leg, almost succeeding in gripping the limb in his monkey teeth before Azlyn reflexively pulls it away. He tries it again, but receives a stern kick for his troubles that sends him sliding across the deck.

Nearly colliding, as it happens, with his namesake. Jack the human quickly dives to the side, then scrambles forward to nab the medallion lying against the deck.

He ends up bumping into Sora’s shin. The Keybearer looks down at the pirate with an odd, unreadable expression.

“How did you get here?” the Keybearer asks the former captain, surprised by his sudden, random appearance.

“Not by betrayal, if that’s what you’re asking,” the shifty man stammers out quickly.

Sora’s unreadable look becomes one of clear confusion. “Uh, I wasn’t?”

There’s no further opportunity for the pair to converse before Jack the monkey, apparently fully recovered from his bout with Azlyn, leaps up and nabs the medallion straight out of his human counterpart’s hand.

The capuchin lands on the deck and skitters towards a long wooden ramp that the _Black Pearl_ ’s crew must have set up during the confusion of battle. Crying out in alarm, Captain Jack rushes after the primate, skirting around the various battles taking place on the _Interceptor_ ’s deck in his mad dash.

As he nears the ramp, an opponent of Telary’s stumbles back away from a staff strike, knocking hard enough into Jacks’ back to send him sprawling against the wooden board. Opening his eyes, he sees the tip of Barbossa’s black boot.

“Thank ye, Jack,” the mutinous pirate says gratefully, taking the medallion from his animal companion’s grip.

“You’re welcome!” the human Jack replies.

“Actually,” Barbossa chuckles, “we named the _monkey_ Jack.”

“Oh.” Jack(human)’s face falls sadly.

Barbossa steps over Jack’s prone body and onto the deck of the _Interceptor_. “That’s enough playin’ gents, the coin is secured!”

At the words of their captain, the pirates of the _Black Pearl_ surge ahead in their battles, teaming up with each other to subdue their opponents. In only moments, it’s all over.

“Suddenly, I’m not feeling so bad about losing to these guys,” Azlyn whispers to Sora as they’re forced to their knees before the grinning Barbossa. Jack, Telary, and Elizabeth sit beside them.

“Any one of you rats even _think_ the word parley, I lick ye on the spot,” threatens Pintel, his fingers dancing suggestively across his blade’s hilt.

“You all put up a valiant effort, to be sure,” Barbossa mocks his prisoners, slowly pacing back and forth before them, reverently running a finger against the medallion and chain as he does. “But it seems all was for naught.”

“Where’s young William?” Jack whispers to Elizabeth while their enemy is distracted by his own victory.

“He fell overboard,” the governor’s daughter replies, a clear note of sorrow in her voice.

Jack grimaces. “That’s not good.”

“Wow, Jack,” says Telary, who’s been listening in to the pirate’s conversation with Elizabeth. “I thought you were just a heartless pirate, but it turns out…”

“Throws off me whole plan, it does,” Jack finishes. Beside him, Telary groans and shakes his head.

“Barbossa!”

Sora, Azlyn, Telary, Jack, and Elizabeth all let out simultaneous gasps as Will Turner hauls himself up onto the _Interceptor_ ’s deck rail, balancing deftly atop it. In his hand, he holds a gun.

“Go ahead and take a shot, boy!” Barbossa encourage the lad, chuckling mirthfully. “You can hit any of us anywhere ye like, but we can’t be killed!”

Down on the deck, Telary’s attention is drawn away from Will’s drama by a flurry of words coming from Jack beside him.

“Don’t do anything stupid, don’t do anything stupid, don’t do anything stupid,” the captain repeats like a mantra, or a prayer.

“You can’t die, that’s true,” Will admits. “But _I_ can!” With a stone-cold determined look in his eyes, the blacksmith raises the gun’s barrel to his temple.

Jack’s head drops hopelessly. “Like that!”

“And who in blazes are you, boy?” Barbossa demands.

“My name is William Turner!” Will declares proudly, thumbing back his pistol’s hammer. “The son of Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs through my veins. I believe you have need of it.”

For a long moment all is silent, only the sound of the waves slapping against the ships’ hulls rising to fill the void.

“Very well, boy,” Barbossa says after a long minute, staring hard at the self-captive Will. “Name your terms… Mr. _Turner_.”

“You let Elizabeth go free!” Will demands firmly. “And Sora, Azlyn, and Telary.”

Barbossa raises a curious eyebrow. “Anything else?”

Jack’s shoulder bumps into Telary, and when the mage turns he sees the pirate attempting to draw attention to himself, obviously hoping to get Will to negotiate his surrender as well. It doesn’t seem to be working.

“Leave now!” Will demands, completely and pointedly ignoring Jack’s protestations. Realizing that his life doesn’t seem to matter to the blacksmith, the pirate lets his head fall limply.

Barbossa paces up and down the line of prisoners twice more, lips pursed as he contemplates the offer before him.

“Very well,” the mutinous pirate says after finishing his deliberations, giving a small acquiescing bow. “We pirates shall take our leave.”

“Yay!” Sora and Azlyn excitedly call out in relief.

“But the Heartless stay.”

“Huh?” the dynamic duo exclaim in stereo.

The familiar sound of portals opening floods the deck, as burly Air Pirates appear and swoop down onto the deck. More portals snap to, and suddenly Pirate Heartless have joined their airborne brethren, heavy swords at the ready.

Pete appears next, leaping up behind Will and bringing his massive fist down on the young man’s head. Will lets out a small cry of alarm and pain before fainting dead away, falling into the arms of Maleficent’s minion. The fat cat throws his head back and laughs heartily.

“Hey, no fair!” Sora yells, rising momentarily before he’s pushed back to his knees by Pintel, who’s standing behind him.

“We’re pirates, lad,” the stocky man chuckles.

“Fairness don’t exactly enter the equation,” Ragetti chimes in giddily.

At Pete’s direction, pirates begin bringing over large barrels onto the _Interceptor_ , each with a long fuse sticking out.

“What’s that about?” Azlyn asks Telary as a few pirates begin tying them up.

“Dunno,” the wizard replies, mouth moving up and down as he rapidly chews into his bottom lip. “But they’re definitely not good.”

“Truth be told, I’d prefer turning y’all into Heartless for Maleficent’s army,” Pete says to Sora as he leads the Keybearer down the stairs to the ship’s hold. “But I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with blowin’ ya to smithereens!”

“We’re gonna get out of this, Pete!” Sora venomously swears, shaking defiantly against his bonds.

The fat cat only chuckles mirthfully and pats the youth’s head. “Sure ya are squirt. Sure ya are.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“I think I may have already broke my own promise,” Azlyn sighs.

Sora, Azlyn, Telary, Jack, and Elizabeth all sit in a circle on the floor of the _Interceptor’s_ hold, mostly silent up until this moment. Above, they can hear the footsteps of Heartless as they prepare whatever is in those barrels Barbossa left behind.

“I’m not sure this really counts as kidnapping, Azlyn,” Telary replies, fighting back his nerves to deliver the response. “Far as I can tell, kidnapping entails being taken somewhere else. We’re still in the same place.”

“They took us down into the hold,” Sora chimes in thoughtfully. “We were on deck before, so…”

“Location isn’t exactly key, I don’t think,” Elizabeth says. She’s dressed now only in her white undergown, Barbossa having lecherously demanded back the dress he had “offered” her. “You hear about people being held hostage in their own homes. That seems as much kidnapping as any snatch job, to my reasoning.”

“True,” Telary concedes.

“Anyway, I guess to my mind this just has a kind of old-school ‘tied to the train tracks’ vibe, y’know?” Azlyn clarifies.

“As… engaging as this little conversation has been,” Jack speaks up suddenly, “why don’t we stop wasting our time and go save our skins, eh?”

“But Jack, we’re tied up,” Sora reminds the pirate. “How are we supposed to…?”

Jack shrugs and his ropes fall away, and Sora’s jaw drops open dumbly before he can finish his objection.

“A pirate always knows when to surrender, lad,” Jack says sagely, already bending down to saw through Sora’s ropes with a small knife. “And this, me hearties, is definitely not the opportune moment.”

In no time the captives are all free. Weapons drawn, they rush out of the hold and onto the deck. Barrels are scattered all over, two with fuses lit, the rest still not prepped for detonation.

The Heartless immediately notice the heroes’ valiant charge, and quickly descend on the group. A few stay behind, however, to light the remaining fuses.

“Azlyn, Jack, focus on those barrels,” Sora commands, his blade clashing against a Pirate Heartless’s sword. “Telary and I’ll handle these goons!”

The pair assigned to the barrels fan out. Azlyn rushes to the nearest lit one, knocking the Air Pirate guarding it away with her shield. When the weapon returns to her hand, she grunts and bashes it against the barrel, sending it flying overboard. It lands in the ocean and sinks, fuse extinguished by the seawater. Nearby, Jack also heaves a lit barrel over the _Interceptor_ ’s port side.

Telary intercepts a Pirate blade and pushes it aside, quickly raising his staff for a thunder spell that zaps his opponent. Sora, meanwhile, dodges an attack only to find another Heartless sneaking up on his flank. With a surprised shout, the Keybearer pivots and neatly bisects the sneaky creature. Behind him, Telary freezes a Pirate solid.

There’s only one barrel left, and Azlyn and Jack race for it against a soaring Air Pirate with a lit torch in its hands. Jack leaps for it, but it remains just out of his reach.

“Aspirin!” the pirate calls to his partner. She’s momentarily taken aback by him calling her the wrong name, but recovers quickly enough to catch his drift.

The knight falls to one knee, raising her shield to her face. With a small noise of exertion, Jack hops up onto the flat shield, pushing off and using its extra momentum to nail the Heartless with his sword.

“Yes!” Azlyn cries out in triumph, knocking into the last barrel hard with her shoulder and sending it into the drink.

“We did it!” Elizabeth cries out happily, jumping for joy.

“We’re saved!” Sora exclaims, dropping to his knees and pumping his fist in the air.

Telary, looking over the port side railing, is not quite as cheerful. “Um, guys…”

“Another brilliant Captain Jack Sparrow plan, pulled off without a hitch!”

“Seriously, guys, I really think you should…”

“Pirates schmirates!” Sora laughs, clutching his belly.

“EXCUSE ME!”

Everyone stops their celebrations dead in their tracks, turning their attention to the irate Telary. It doesn’t stay there long, however, as they notice what is over his shoulder, quickly making its way across the waves.

“Who’s that?” Azlyn asks Telary.

“Those are the guys we stole this ship from,” the wizard explains nervously.

“I’ve already told you, my boy, the nautical term is _acquired_ ,” Jack insists.

Telary turns to the pirate with narrowed, angry eyes. “Fine, Jack, that’s just fine. In fact, I think I’ll let _you_ explain that to all the soldiers who are about to point _guns_ at us. Or maybe you’ll want to call the _persuasion-enhancers_. That sound ‘nautical’ enough for you?”

“Oh, there’ll be no living with you lot now,” Jack sighs.

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn and Elizabeth receive a positive enough reception, Governor Swan directing two soldiers to drape coats over their “underdressed” bodies. Elizabeth gratefully wraps hers around herself, but Azlyn only scoffs and throws it to the deck. The boys are not so luckily, immediately feeling the hands of navy soldiers gripping them forcefully.

Norrington stands at the top of the stairs to the quarterdeck, looking down upon them imperiously.

“It seems that your luck has finally run out, Sparrow,” the commodore mocks his pirate prisoner. “And your accomplices too, I see. A shame to see two boys throw their lives away for piracy so young…”

“They took Will!” Elizabeth exclaims, drawing a scandalous shock from her hovering father. “The pirates took Will, we have to…”

Norrington sighs deeply, rolling his eyes at the girl. “What is it about this night that is making everyone so impulsive?” He composes himself and gives Elizabeth a stern look. “Young Turner made his choice when he decided to take up with pirates.”

“He was only trying to save _me_!” Elizabeth protests. “Everything he did was for me…”

“And while that may have been admirable,” Governor Swan butts in, “the fact remains that he broke the law.”

“If I may interject,” Jack suddenly chimes in, darting quickly past his guard and moving toward the commodore, who takes a repulsed step back. “It should be noted that the _Black Pearl_ is still the preeminent pirate threat in the seas, mate. Just think of the glory you could pull by apprehending its captain. _And_ hanging him. Or maybe a nice draw-and-quartering, I’m not picky.”

“You have no right to speak on my ship, pirate,” Norrington informs Jack with a harsh sneer. “And speaking of hangings, while there’s no doubt about your upcoming execution, Mr. Sparrow, the _method_ is still to be determined.”

 _That_ gets Jack to back off, placing his hands behind his back and whistling nonchalantly.

Elizabeth takes a deep breath and lays a hand on the commodore’s arm. He turns to look at her, perplexed by the contact.

“If you won’t save Will for his sake, do it for mine,” Elizabeth says, every word serious and measured carefully. “Consider it… Consider it a gift. A _wedding_ gift.”

Governor Swan lets out a gasp and stares at his daughter incredulously. “Do you… Does this mean that you _accept_ the commodore’s proposal, Elizabeth?”

The girl in question takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. When they open again, they’re hard as steel with determination. “Yes, I will marry the commodore. Just help me rescue Will.”

An odd sniffing noise starts up beside Sora, and he turns to see Telary trying desperately to hold back tears. He gives his older companion a look.

“What?” the wizard shoots back defensively. “I just think it’s really beautiful, what she’s doing.”

“As do I, my redheaded mate!” Jack agreed, once again evading his guards and rushing for the quarterdeck. This time he succeeds in getting up the stairs. Shoving aside the helmsman with his hip, the pirate takes the wheel. “To Isla de Muerta, then!”

Norrington turns and gives Jack an absolutely venomous look. “To Isla de Muerta,” he sighs heavily.

Things get underway quickly, crewmen bustling all about the deck in the moonlight, preparing to make the best time they can to Isla de Muerta.

As Sora watches the hustle and bustle going on all around, he suddenly realizes that, in all the hullabaloo to pursue the _Black Pearl_ , some very important facts have yet to be mentioned to the commodore.

Norrington isn’t far away, hovering just behind Jack and watching every move the wily pirate makes. Sora starts to make his way to the quarterdeck stairs, only to find himself blocked by a soldier’s rifle and grabbed from behind.

“It’s the brig with you lot,” the soldier informs him gruffly. Turning, Sora can see that Telary is also being held onto hard by the arm, headed for belowdecks and the aforementioned brig. “Come along!”

“But wait, you have to let me talk to the commodore!” Sora protests, being hauled backwards despite his struggles. He’s seriously considering summoning the Keyblade, only held back by the fact that this soldier is just doing his job. “I have to tell him about the curse, and the Heartless, and…”

“You can tell it all to the judge at your hangin’ trial,” the soldier interrupts, taking him to the stairs. “I’m sure he’d just love to hear your spooky stories.”

“It’s not… I’m telling the truth!” the Keybearer yells. He throws himself forward, but the soldier holding him back is too strong. “You’ve gotta…”

“Leave my friends alone!” Azlyn demands, pushing through a throng of crewmen and soldiers. The redcoat turns to admonish the girl, only to receive a swift hit to the face.

This starts a whole other commotion, as even more soldiers arrive to restrain Azlyn, hauling her into the bowels of the ship as well. As she goes, she casts her gaze around in hopes that Elizabeth can clear this mess up. But Elizabeth is no longer on deck, now safely away in the captain’s cabin, which her father has taken for the journey.

She does find Jack, however, apparently too engrossed with steering the ship to lend a hand. That, or he really doesn’t care about anyone at all but himself.

Azlyn concedes that it’s probably the second one.

“Stupid pirates!” she growls as the door to the brig’s largest cell slams shut. Turning away from the bars, she can see that Sora and Telary occupy the same cell. “And I thought that Hook guy was bad. At least he, like, _acknowledged_ how evil he was.”

“I used to hear all kinds of pirate stories growing up on Destiny Islands,” Sora sighs wistfully. “The way I was told, it sounded kind of exciting.”

“If these are the people they used to glorify on your islands, no wonder Riku turned out the way he did,” Azlyn says with a scowl, not even noticing how much the mention of his best friend’s time on the wrong path hurts Sora.

Time passes at an incredibly slow rate in the brig, and not even Telary has the temerity to suggest a game. After what seems like ages, the sound of boots coming down the upper deck stairs attracts the trio’s attention.

“My, what a nice little brig they’ve got here!” Jack exclaims cheerily, running his hand along the nearly sparkling iron bars. “Much better than that dump of a jail at the fort.” He looks down at Sora and Telary, beaming. “Can you lads believe that for a glorious few minutes, all this belonged to us?”

“What I can’t believe, Jack, is that you just stood there while we got hauled into these cells!” Sora berates the pirate.

Jack only shrugs, the scoundrel. “No sense in getting meself in your predicament, kiddies. Norrington could’ve used it as leverage to get this fool mission called off.”

“Whatever,” Azlyn sighs, rolling her eyes and turning away from the pirate.

“Anyway,” Jack continues as if there’s no animosity towards him whatsoever, “I just came down here to let you lads and lass know that we’re approaching Isla de Muerta, and we’re ready to board the longboats.”

“Wait, we’re coming with you?” Telary asks.

Jack nods. “Aye. After all, what’s a captain without his crew?”

“You for the last ten years,” Sora replies snappily. Jack just makes a face at that.

**KH-KH-KH**

Telary lets out a tense breath as he gazes out the back of the longboat, the _Dauntless_ getting ever further away. Shaking his head to clear it, he turns back to the boat’s bow, where Jack Sparrow is studiously working the oars as they approach the island. Sora and Azlyn also sit in the boat, and to either side float longboats full of soldiers.

“Make sure to remember the plan, dear Commodore!” Jack calls to Norrington, standing in the starboard longboat. “I convince Barbossa and his crew to row out, and you shoot the bilgy stuffing out of ‘em!”

“As long as you accomplish your part, Mr. Sparrow, I am sure my men will be perfectly capable of doing ours,” Norrington replies snidely.

“Y’know, it really sticks in my craw that Elizabeth is gonna have to marry that jerk,” Azlyn mutters as they pull away from the waiting soldiers. “She’s clearly super into Will, talked about him all the time when we were captives.”

“She’s marrying Norrington just to save him,” Sora sighs. “That’s, like, the ultimate act of love right there. Except for, y’know, actually dying.”

“Love is a powerful force, to be sure,” Jack sighs sagely, shaking his head. “Just ask one of the heiresses I’ve swindled. They were so taken up with ol’ Captain Jack they’d do anything for me. Including give me the key to the family silver drawer.”

There’s a long moment of silence as the other occupants of the longboat glare at the pirate.

“Y’know,” Telary says, “sometimes I actually _really_ want to let you hang.”

Jack shrugs, nonplussed. “You’d be surprised by how many people I’ve crewed with have told me something that.”

The row continues in silence until they reach the stony shore of Isla de Muerta’s outer cave. Silently, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary creep out of the boat. Not far away, the _Black Pearl_ ’s crew can be heard sorting out the final bits of business before beginning their ritual.

“Alright, this is where we split,” Jack tells he trio as he quietly drops the oars and clambers to shore. “Just remember the plan, and everything should come up right as rain, eh?”

“As long as you make sure _you_ stick to your part,” Azlyn says threateningly to the pirate. “If I even _think_ you’re about to screw us, things are gonna get really bad for you. Savvy?”

Jack grimaces. “Y’know, that doesn’t sound quite as charming when you say it, love.” Not even sparing a last glance for his allies, Jack skips into the treasure cavern, bold as he pleases. The entire mutinous crew of the _Black Pearl_ is too busy to notice as he creeps through.

“Begun by blood,” Barbossa is reciting grandly as Jack approaches, Will’s neck held over the chest by Pete, “by blood undone!”

Something knocks into Ragetti hard enough to upset his eye, and he turns indignantly to see what it is. When he realizes that the source of the bump is Jack Sparrow himself, he’s so shocked he stops chanting. This makes Pintel stop, which draws the attention of the Johnson twins, which begins a chain of silence that finally ends all chanting in the cavern.

Jack the monkey chitters from his position at the bottom of the chest display stone, tilting his furry head.

Perplexed by the silence, Barbossa looks up from what he’s doing, which just so happens to be getting ready to slit William Turner the second’s throat.

“You survived!” the pirate exclaims, drawing the knife away from Will and glaring down incredulously at Jack. “Not possible!”

Jack shrugs. “Well, not _probable_ , my dear Hector. And yet here I stand before you, alive and well!”

“I hope this doesn’t cause any jealousy in yer heart, mate, but I’m afraid you’ve become number two on my ‘to kill’ list,” Barbossa sneers down at his former captain. He turns to place the knife at Will’s throat once again.

Jack makes a few loud _tsk_ ing noises, shaking his head at the display before him. “Not sure you wanna be doin’ that, mate.”

Barbossa turns back and sneers at Jack. “No, actually I _really_ think that I do.”

Jack shrugs and lets out a deep sigh. “Fine. It’s your funeral.”

Barbossa closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and pulls the knife away from Will’s throat. Opening his eyes once again on Jack, he bites the bullet. “And why would you be saying that?”

“Because I just happen to have come from the _HMS Dauntless_ , pride of the Royal Navy,” Jack informs his fellow pirate. “Which is floating right off the cove, fully prepared to blow you all to smithereens the second your no-longer immortal selves put oar to yonder water.”

A round of surprised, fearful gasps rises up from the pirates.

“So what, ya scurvy fool?” Pete chuckles heartily. “All it’ll take is me sending a quick platoon of Heartless out to deal with those prissy soldiers. No undead necessary.”

Perfectly on cue, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary race into the cavern, all of them looking waterlogged and bedraggled.

“Not if we have anything to say about it, Pete!” Sora threatens the fat cat, brandishing the Keyblade menacingly.

Pete is about to shout some kind of threat when he’s interrupted by Jack.

“You’re _alive_?” the pirate gasps, holding a hand to his mouth in shock.

Jack the monkey seems similarly shocked, letting out a loud screech directed at Azlyn. The knight glares murderously back.

Barbossa scoffs and gives Jack (human) a deadpan glare. “Don’t act so surprised, mate. If you survived, then you definitely…”

“He wriggled out of his rope at the last minute,” Telary interrupts, glaring at Jack. He’s finding it very easy to feign resentment at the pirate. “Nabbed Elizabeth for ‘leverage’ and left us to die in the explosion!”

“But we still managed to get free, you slimy snake!” Azlyn yells, hardly even faking her anger towards the wily pirate. “And now we’re gonna stop you once and for all!”

“Not if our tubby chum here has anything to say about it!” Jack defiantly calls back. He turns to Pete. “Go on, call up your Heartless buggers and waste ‘em!”

Pete doesn’t get a chance to respond before Azlyn lets out a battle cry and charges straight for him, ramming heavily into Maleficent’s minion with her shoulder, driving him back towards a tunnel shooting off from the treasure cave. Sora and Telary follow, also herding the fat cat back into the tunnel. The pirate crew simply watches as the offworlders battle their way right out of the cave.

“Well, that’s sorted then,” Jack says cheerily, smiling up at Barbossa as friendly as humanly possible. “Unfortunately with your buddy gone, it once again falls to your undead crew to take care of the soldiers aboard the _Dauntless_. Just think, once that ship is under your command, you can start your own bloody fleet!”

Barbossa purses his lips, considering the offer.

Meanwhile, Sora and his friends continue pursuing Pete deeper into the Isla de Muerta’s caves, fighting off any Heartless he summons as they go.

“I don’t see why ya have to go after me so quick-like,” the fat cat protests, throwing a large bomb that momentarily stuns Azlyn and Telary. Sora’s too busy dealing with a Rabid Dog to get caught in the blast. “After all, it was that Jack Sparrow what betrayed ya and left ya fer dead!”

“Death that would have been caused by flaming barrels _you_ armed, tubby!” Azlyn sneers at her nemesis.

“You know you’re always number one to us, Pete!” Sora says mockingly, cutting through a pair of Soldiers with a single swing.

In an odd way, Pete’s kind of touched.

A lightning bolt from Telary clears up the last Heartless threats, and the trio rounds on Pete, backing him up into a small moonlit nook.

“And anyway, we’re not really mad at Jack,” Telary clarifies nonchalantly. “That was just a ruse to get Barbossa to trust him while we dealt with you.”

Pete stops short, his eyes rolling and mouth twitching as he attempts to wrap his head around that revelation. After a long moment, the fat cat just huffs and throws his hands up in the air.

“Y’know somethin’,” he says with a definitive nod, “with all these plots within plots and fake betrayals and schemes against schemes, this whole business has just gotten _confusing_!” Shaking his head frustratedly, he selects a big bomb from his pouch, holding it up for a throw. “I don’t care who’s on what side, I’m gettin’ outta here!”

True to his word, Maleficent’s minion throws his weapon straight to the floor, immediately filling the nook with smoke. By the time it’s cleared, he’s gone.

“Y’know,” Sora says after a moment of silence, relaxing out of his battle stance, “he kinda had a point. This _is_ all getting pretty confusing.”

“Agreed,” Azlyn grumbles.

It only takes a minute for the trio to sneak back into the cavern, silently taking in the scene before them. Will still stands near the chest, Barbossa keeping a wary eye on him. Jack is going through the treasure horde, picking up odds and extremely valuable ends and examining them thoroughly. Only three undead pirates (four counting Jack the monkey) remain, on guard just in case. It seems the plan more or less worked.

“You were planning this from the moment you learned my name, weren’t you Jack?” Will accuses Jack angrily.

“Yes, I was,” Jack says, examining a particularly shiny urn. Seeing something he likes in its reflection, the pirate turns and brushes the thumb of his right hand into his palm, the signal he had worked out with the trio.

 _Be ready_ , it means.

“I really don’t see how ye can be surprised, whelp,” Barbossa scoffs haughtily. “Ye did put your trust in a pirate, y’know.”

“Now that’s a bit unfair,” Jack protests with a shake of his head. “After all, I promised to get back the _Pearl_ , Mr. Turner promised to die for Elizabeth, and the lady herself is fulfilling her promise to marry Norrington. So we’re all men of our word, really.” He frowns. “Well, Elizabeth is a woman, and I’m still not one hundred percent sure the boy isn’t a eunuch, but the spirit of the statement is true enough.”

“One promise, _to yourself_ , fulfilled” Will says angrily. “Not exactly an honorable record, Sparrow.”

Jack shrugs acceptingly. “It’s true,” he says airily, walking behind a bored undead pirate. “I am a dishonest man. Though in a sense that makes me the most trustworthy of all. After all, dishonest men you can at least trust to try and lie to you. When it comes to an honest man, well, you just never know when he’ll do something incredibly… _stupid_.”

Suddenly, Jack reaches out quick as a whip to snatch the cursed pirate’s sword straight out of its scabbard, simultaneously drawing his own blade as he tosses the stolen one to Will, who easily catches it. At the same moment, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary emerge from the tunnel, weapons drawn and ready.

Barbossa quickly leaps backward off the chest stone, warily eyeing all his new opponents. Monkey-Jack stands at attention, eyes narrowly fixed on Azlyn.

“It seems you’ve played me quite expertly, Jack,” the mutinous captain declares smoothly. “And now I stand outnumbered.”

“And there’ll be no more Heartless to bail you out!” Azlyn exclaims giddily.

Any joy she feels at the one-upmanship evaporates as Jack the monkey launches himself at her, scratching at her face furiously. The knight grunts and raises her shield, bouncing the capuchin away.

She’s about to go in for another hit when suddenly a swarm of Dusks slither into the cavern, drawing everyone’s attention to their strangeness.

Barbossa recovers most quickly, immediately lunging for Jack. The wily captain manages a block, and the duel between the old rivals is on.

“We’ll handle these Nobodies!” Sora assures Will, leaping at a Dusk and knocking it clear out of the air. “You take the pirates!”

Will nods and leaps for the still disoriented undead, stabbing one through the belly with his sword. Another comes up behind the blacksmith, but he blocks the attack and kicks him away.

The first pirate rises and starts in at Will for another duel, leaving him entirely open to the third pirate, who approaches the lads back with his axe raised…

Only to receive a hard oar to the face, courtesy of one Elizabeth Swan.

Will knocks his opponent away and turns to face the girl with a bright smile. She’s dressed in the white pants and red jacket of a naval officer, an outfit much more conducive to combat than any dress.

“Great timing,” Will compliments the girl.

She blushes and shrugs. “When you’re the daughter of a governor, you learn how important it is to keep to a schedule.”

Across the cavern, Sora and Telary stand nearly back to back, fighting off the swarm of flitting Dusks. Not far away, Azlyn continues her deadly dance with Jack the monkey.

“Things were supposed to be easy from here on,” Sora sighs, swinging at a Dusk only for it to duck the edge of his weapon. Grunting, he turns the Keyblade vertically and smashes it into the Nobody’s head. “And now these guys show up?”

“Just stop questioning it, Sora,” Telary sighs, launching a fireball at two Dusks, getting them both with one shot. “I don’t anymore.”

Moving around the struggling Azlyn and her capuchin nemesis, the pair team up for a massive burst of magical firepower that eliminates the Nobody threat.

Meanwhile, Jack and Barbossa’s duel approaches its climax as well. Jack has the high ground, but Barbossa is the one driving him up the natural rock ramp in the back of the cave. Not far away from the fight, a hole lets in the moonlight from above.

Finally Barbossa drives his blade hard enough to knock Jack’s away, giving him a perfect opening. With a cruel laugh, the mutinous pirate thrusts his blade into his former captain’s chest.

For a long moment, everything freezes, all gazes fixed on Jack. Even Azlyn, who’s struggling to pry Jack the monkey off her throat. The wily captain lets out a semi-pathetic gurgling sound, stumbling backwards into the moonlight.

And perfectly revealing his newly skeletal form. Impossibly, that just freezes everyone in the cave _more_.

Jack raises his hand to his face, curiously inspecting the skeletal fingers there. “Interesting,” he says after a moment. A small gold coin, obviously taken from the cursed chest, rolls back and forth across his fingers, clinking almost musically against the phalanges. “Very interesting.”

Robbed of his easy victory, Barbossa attacks with twice as much vigor as before. Sora and Telary rush to help Will and Elizabeth, and Azlyn and Jack the monkey fall into a treasure pile, rolling around as they try to take each other out.

Every time they knock down the cursed pirates by conventional means, the scoundrels recover within seconds, never seeming to tire or sustain too much injury.

“I’m starting to really hate this magic business!” Elizabeth exclaims, kneecapping a pirate with her oar.

“Me too,” Telary agrees, knocking away a hatchet with his staff. He winces from both the blow’s force and the inevitable paint chipping. “And I’m a magician…” He pauses, thinking for a long moment. “Hm.”

Backing away from his opponent, Telary unleashes a burst of lightning directly into the pirate. When the bolt hits, the massive voltage overloads the ruffian’s senses and knocks him out straightaway, sending him crashing back into the water.

Sora sees the maneuver and gets an idea of his own. Turning aside a cutlass swipe, he points the tip of the Keyblade at his opponent’s torso and unleashes a fire spell. The flames spread quickly, and the pirate careens back into the watery pool to clear them. Though they extinguish into so much steam upon contact, the pain is still too much for the pirate to take while still remaining conscious.

Smiling triumphantly, the Keybearer turns and freezes the remaining pirate, locking him in a block of cold ice.

“Will, get to that chest,” Telary instructs the blacksmith, not giving anyone time to recover from the battle. “We’ve gotta stop this curse right now, or the _Dauntless_ is in serious trouble!”

Barbossa and Jack are still exchanging blows, each tireless arm swinging as hard now as they have since the duel began.

“So, what now, Jack Sparrow?” Barbossa asks the man he betrayed. “Do we fight forever, two immortals locked in combat until the trumpets sound on Judgement Day?”

Jack spares a brief glance over Barbossa’s shoulder, then somehow manages to strike and shrug at once. “My schedule is clear up ‘til then, mate.” A slow grin spreads across his face. “But it seems you’ve got something coming at you, mate.”

Barbossa doesn’t have any time to decipher the strange statement before something slams into his back, knocking his balance off completely. A loud, high-pitched noise rises to his ears, and the mutinous captain instantly recognize it as Jack the monkey’s pained screech.

“And the throw is good!” Azlyn cheers, laughing as she watches the capuchin and its owner try and untangle from each other.

The distraction is plenty of time for Jack to quickly open his palm, coat his coin in his own blood, and toss it across the cave to Will, who stands ready by the stone chest.

Scowling, Barbossa finally throws the monkey off of his back and grabs his pistol off his belt with a flick of the wrist, aiming directly for Elizabeth. The girl freezes as he pulls back the weapon’s hammer…

_BANG!_

Everyone in the cavern stands as still as stone, eyes fixed on smoke still rising from Jack’s gun. His last one bullet has finally been fired, straight into the chest of his greatest enemy.

Barbossa just laughs. “You’ve wasted your one shot I’m afraid, Jack.”

“No,” Will says defiantly, hand held over the stone chest and the golden bounty contained within. With a look of pure stony anger, he opens his hand, dropping the bloodied coins atop their counterparts.

Ending the curse.

Barbossa’s face goes slack, his breaths becoming heavy and labored as they prepare to stop for good.

“I feel,” he sputters, swaying on his feet, “ _cold_.”

With a last pathetic gurgle, Barbossa falls backwards into a pile of treasure.

“And thus closes this dark chapter of my life,” Jack sighs, running his arm through the moonlight just to make sure it stays fleshy. It does.

“Jack, I…” Will begins.

“Well, no use mooning about then,” Jack declares with a shrug, turning greedily to the numerous uncursed treasures surrounding him. “If I’m starting a new chapter, it may as well be an extravagantly funded one!”

The entire cavern groans at the pirate’s antics. Except Azlyn, who’s too busy beginning her own shopping spree.

“But, wait,” Sora says, drawing the group’s attention to himself, “aren’t those soldiers floating outside just going to arrest Jack again?”

In the background, Azlyn and Jack get into a tug-of-war over a large silver chalice.

“Actually,” Telary chimes in, “I think I have an idea about that. We’ll have to leave Will and Elizabeth behind though, I’m afraid.”

“Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Will begins, hopping off the stone chest’s rock and approaching the trio, “thank you for everything.”

“Yes, we are forever grateful for your help,” Elizabeth agrees.

Sora shrugs. “It’s what we do.”

Azlyn ceases battling Jack for treasure and offers Elizabeth a sympathetic frown. “Good luck, marrying the commodore and all. Sorry we can’t get you outta that one.”

“I did what I had to,” Elizabeth replies proudly, glancing sadly at Will. “For love.”

Telary has to turn away, wiping tears from his eyes.

**KH-KH-KH**

Luckily, the Gummi ship’s teleporter works perfectly for Telary’s idea, depositing the trio and Jack directly onto the deck of the _Black Pearl_. The _Dauntless_ can be seen floating not far away. From the looks of things, cleanup from the cursed pirates’ attack is still well underway.

With a flick of his wrist, Telary magically summons a bank of heavy fog, sweeping into the cove to obscure the _Pearl_ from the navy vessel’s view.

“You are truly a wonder, Mr. Taxidermy,” Jack congratulates the wizard, thumping him heartily on the back.

“And you’re something else yourself, Jack,” Telary sighs, rolling his eyes.

“ _Captain_ Jack, if you please.”

“Uh, speaking of something else…” Azlyn’s voice directs the males’ attention to two men climbing aboard the _Pearl_ ’s deck: None other than Pintel and Ragetti.

“Pirates!” Sora yells, Keyblade whipping into his hand in a burst of light. “They’re here to take the ship!”

As weapons are drawn all around, Pintel takes a big, fearful gulp. “Uh, parley?”

Jack sighs, packing his sword back into its scabbard. “Very well, I accept your terms. I’ll need help sailing this boat to Tortuga anyway, I figure.”

“Captain,” Sora warily whispers to the pirate, “are you sure it’s a good idea to let these two just join up? They were part of a mutiny against you, after all.”

Jack only shrugs with a noncommittal grunt. “A mutiny planned by a much smarter man, Sokka. These two couldn’t betray a blind man.”

“Well, there was actually this one time in Singapore…” Ragetti begins, only to go silent as Pintel elbows him hard in the ribs.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary stick around to assist Jack in getting the _Black Pearl_ out of the fog. As soon as they’re clear, Jack pulls out his compass to get a heading. Within moments, the object has opened Sora’s path to the world’s heart, from whence he creates a new interstellar route.

“We’ve really gotta go now, Jack,” Sora tells the pirate.

“And if you ever find yourself in some _really_ good treasure, make sure you remember who it was that got you your ship back,” Azlyn reminds the pirate slyly.

After they leave in their flashes of light, Jack grips the wheel of his ship and shakes his head as Pintel and Ragetti go about their duties on the main deck.

“And people say _I’m_ strange,” he mutters to himself. Closing his eyes, the pirate takes in the joyous feeling of once again having his own ship. Finally, he can truly know freedom once more.

He hears a sudden noise behind him, and turns to find that Jack the monkey has arrived on deck, something small held in his mouth.

The pirate captain is spared having to check it out when a cloud rolls off the moon, revealing the capuchin’s skeletal form.

“Undead monkey,” Jack says to himself, offering an arm to the creature that shares his name. The small primate obliges happily, skittering up the arm and onto Captain Jack Sparrow’s shoulder. “You _really_ can’t beat that!”


	15. Holy Ground

Morning in Paris. The fisherman fishes, the bakerman bakes, and the bells ring out from the grand cathedral of Notre Dame. Big bells loud as the thunder, other soft like a psalm. Some even say that the true soul of the city can only be found in the toll of the bells.

Telary and Azlyn, having just teleported in together from the Gummi ship, are much more concerned with finding Sora than any bells.

“That thing is a real mess,” Azlyn complains as the pair walk through small backstreets, buildings of wood and stone surrounding them. “It hasn’t managed to put us all down together in the right place since we visited Beast.”

Telary shrugs, narrowly avoiding a pair of young lovers strolling the other way. The wizard thinks that the city, wherever they are, is lovely in a way that he has yet to encounter in any other world. It’s almost like Agrabah, just without all of the sand. Not to mention buzzing with people.

“That’s true, it hasn’t quite been giving us what we’ve wanted,” he agrees quietly, trying to keep the conversation inaudible to any passersby. “But when you think about it, it actually seems to be putting us right where we need to be.”

Azlyn raises a skeptical eyebrow at her counterpart. She doesn’t need to say any actual words for Telary to catch her drift.

“Well, it was installed by a… sorcerer.” He whispers the last word, warily eyeing a large man pulling a cart along behind him. “So it might have, y’know, some kind of magic.”

Azlyn grunts noncommittally. “Yeah, I guess. Still, it would be nice to know where Sora is.”

“We’ll find him eventually. We always do.”

Frowning, Azlyn looks around at the townsfolk. “Something’s going down here,” she says eventually. “I’m getting a vibe from everyone we pass. The same vibe.”

“What is it?” Telary asks, face palling with nerves. “Something bad?”

Azlyn shakes her head. “No. Just the opposite in fact. Everybody seems happy.”

“Well of course they’re happy, my dear,” a voice suddenly chimes in from below and to the left. Following the sound, Azlyn and Telary notice a man dressed in colorful clothing, sitting up against a wall, a tin cup set beside him. If the black patches covering his eyes are any clue, the man is blind. “Today is the Festival of Fools! People come from all over to attend, and the townsfolk love it just as much.”

“Festival?” Telary repeats, thinking of the annual Dream Festival held in Mouseburg. Besides Christmas, it’s always his favorite time of the year. “That sounds like fun.”

The blind man shrugs. “It’s a good time to collect donations, at any rate. A lot of my people perform as well.” He frowns subtly. “One of the only times anybody seems accepting of us gypsies.”

“What’s a gypsy?” Azlyn asks brusquely.

“My people,” the blind man explains. “Though we only wish to live our lives I peace, there are many who think badly of us.”

“That sounds awful,” Telary says sadly, shaking his head and reaching into his pouch. Despite Azlyn’s skeptic eye on him all the while, the redheaded wizard pulls out several golden munny pieces and tosses them into the beggar’s cup.

As the coins clink into the tine cup, the blind man smiles broadly. “Oh, bless you my friend. You have done a good deed this day.” The smile gets a bit cheekier. “I predict good fortune in your future, my boy!”

Telary shrugs, his hands rubbing together shyly. “Hey, I’m just trying to be a good citizen.”

“Well this day, you have very much succeeded.”

Telary and the blind man exchange a few parting pleasantries, and then the wizard and his counterpart are off, now in search of the square where the Festival of Fools is held. As they go, Telary notices his companion shaking her head.

“What’s that all about?” he asks huffily.

“You just made a mistake, my friend,” the knight replies high-handedly, like a philosophy professor targeting a dim student. “That guy scammed you, I can feel it.”

Telary stops in the middle of the street, letting traffic flow around him as he glares at Azlyn, who doesn’t look concerned by the consternation.

“He was a blind member of an oppressed minority group!” Telary cries indignantly, drawing odd looks from the passersby. Luckily for the wizard, none of them could hardly understand the fancy words he had used.

Azlyn just shrugs. “Doesn’t mean he isn’t a cheating bastard.” Seeing something else that catches her eyes, the girl grabs her friend by the arm and leads him to the mouth of a connecting street.

Not far away, a dark-skinned young woman dances to the rhythm of her jingling tambourine, another colorfully clad individual playing along on a flute. In front of the pair sits a hat, and occasionally passersby nod appreciatively at either the music or the dancing girl and toss a few coins into the hat.

Azlyn has her mouth open to make whatever point she’s got in her head, but quickly slams it shut when she notices two black-clad soldiers, one stocky and thuggish and one tall with a large mustache, approaching the performance.

The dancing girl spots them, quickly scrabbling for the hat full of coins.

“What’ve you got here, gypsy?” the tall soldier demands, grabbing the other end of the hat in his gloved fist. “Stolen gold, eh?”

“For your information, I earned that munny!” the girl spits back defiantly, tugging angrily at the hat.

“Gypsies don’t earn munny!” the short guard laughs, hand reaching for the knife sheathed at his hip.

“Yeah,” Telary deadpans to Azlyn, already drawing his staff from its holster, “she looks like a real swindler, Azlyn!”

The knight doesn’t get a chance to respond before the flute player who had accompanying the dancer strikes, smacking his instrument against the guard’s knee and sending him to the cobblestone street.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the young girl gathers up some of the munny that spilled and takes off down the street.

The soldiers recover in seconds, racing off down the street after the girl. Telary and Azlyn begin their own pursuit, but once again they are preempted, this time by a handsome blond man in a blue cloak.

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” the man interrupts, holding up his arms and pushing back his cloak to reveal golden armor that gleams in the morning sun. “I’m Captain Phoebus, new head of the city guard. Would you mind directing me to the Palace of Justice?”

“Uh, sir,” the mustachioed soldier mutters, as respectfully as he can manage. “We were in the middle of a pursuit when…”

Phoebus throws a glance over his shoulder, pursing his lips and examining the empty street critically.

“Oh, that’s my bad,” he sighs, turning back to his new subordinates. “It seems my interference let them get away.” The captain shrugs. “Oh well, I’m sure we’ll get her someday, eh? Now, about the Palace of Justice…?”

“Make way for the captain!” the shooter soldier calls out, waving his arms to clear a path through the street. “New captain coming through!”

As Phoebus makes his way through the city streets, he drops a few of the gold coins that had scattered during the struggle for the hat into the tin cup of a huddled figure in a purple cloak.

“Ugh. I hate street theatre,” Azlyn sighs, already moving off in search of Sora once more.

La Cité Des Cloches

The Palace of Justice looms large over the city of Paris, rivaled in majesty and size only by the famed cathedral of Notre Dame. Their grandiosity is all the two buildings have in common, however, one being a place of mercy and the other punishment.

It’s not hard to guess which is which.

“Now you just hold on a minute here!” Pete protests, struggling against the pair of black-clad guards currently hauling him through the bowels of the building. The only light comes from crackling torches on the walls, and in the background screams can be heard echoing all around. “I ain’t done nothin’!” After a moment of consideration, he adds, “Yet.”

“Perhaps not,” a deep, imperious voice says. The voice belongs to an old man in a black robe with purple at the sleeves and hem. A large triangular hat sits upon his head, vertical stripes of black and purple all across it, and a red ribbon sticking out. “But one look at your strange clothes and… unusual attributes is all I need to recognize a gypsy.”

Pete blanches. “Well, actually I’m a Scorpio,” he says dumbly in reply.

“And now you can only spout nonsense in your defense,” the old man sighs, shaking his head. “Perhaps you will be coherent enough to tell us the location of your heathen hideaway once you’ve been flogged for a few hours. Guards, to a cell with him!”

“As you command, Judge Frollo,” the guard at Pete’s right elbow says obsequiously. He and the other guard begin dragging the fat cat away.

As soon as they round a corner away from the judge, Pete grunts and shakes the pair off of him.

“This place is _ridiculous_!” Maleficent’s minion grumbles, reaching into his pouch for a smoke bomb. “I may be a willing accomplice to the dark takeover of the universe, but that guy’s just a jerk! I don’t care what kinda Darkness reading Maleficent was gettin’ from him, this ain’t worth it!”

With a flick of his wrist Pete tosses the smoke bomb to the floor, detonating it and filling the corridor with thick grey smog. By the time it clears, the fat cat is gone.

“This guy seems like a tough customer,” notes the man in black, who had watched Pete’s ordeal from the shadows. “I’d better wait until I have more to go on.”

Back up several levels of the palace, Frollo strolls out into the open air of the main balcony, a view of Paris many would kill for stretching out in front of him. Waiting at the far end of the veranda stands Phoebus.

“Ah, good morning captain,” Frollo greets his new chief flunky. “I hope finding the place wasn’t too much trouble.”

Phoebus shrugs nonchalantly. “Of course not, sir,” he replies respectfully. “I’m eager to begin my duties.”

“As am I,” Frollo says with a small nod. He pauses, turning and looking out over his city. “These are dark days, Captain. There lurks a threat in the streets of this city that will overrun us, if we are not vigilant against it.”

Phoebus quietly gulped. What could be so terribly dangerous and frightening that it inspired so much passion in a judge like Frollo? Is it possible that in this assignment he has finally bitten off more than he can chew?

“Gypsies,” Frollo says, disdain for the word itself evident in his voice.

For a long moment, the captain is stunned into complete silence. “Gypsies, sir?” he repeats, just so he can make sure he heard right. “You want me to focus all the guard’s efforts on fortunetellers and palm readers?”

Frollo turns to Phoebus with narrowed eyes. “They are not as harmless as they may at first seem, Captain. Their heathen ways enflame the lowest instincts of the people. If left unchecked, the moral rot they usher in could lead to a complete collapse of order.”

Phoebus opens and closes his mouth several times, trying to find something to say that won’t get him a one-way ticket to the lowest dungeon in the Palace of Justice.

“I serve at your command, sir,” is what he finally settles upon. It’s the kind of meaningless ego stroke he’s learned officers like hearing.

Frollo nods, smiling at the soldier. It’s meant to be friendly, but really all it does is creep Phoebus out.

“Now then,” the judge says, straightening his robe, “it’s time to perform perhaps my least favorite duty of all. Tell me Captain, have you ever attended a Parisian festival before?”

“Can’t say I have sir.”

Frollo sneers. “Then this may be educational for you. Debase, lewd, and overly drunk perhaps, but educational.”

Phoebus says nothing, only nods. He’s already figured that it’s the best way to survive this experience until retirement.

**KH-KH-KH**

“This is beginning to get really old,” Sora sighs as he walks through the area the teleporter had taken him. It’s a tower of some kind, with bells hanging from every rafter above. A series of wooden platforms with stairs leading upward serve as his path.

After a minute, he hears something, a nervous sound like someone talking to themselves. Curious, he follows the stairs to the noise’s source.

He steps into a small garret, closed off from the rest of the tower by stone walls. Most of it is utterly unremarkable, but in the middle of the room is a table packed with miniature wooden models of houses, shops, and even a huge church. Small figures are scattered about as well, each one hand-carved and rendered in wonderful detail. Above it all hangs a mobile of colorful glass pieces, reflecting the light coming in from the door to the room’s balcony.

Sora approaches the table, holding out his hand to touch the model church. Never before has he seen such a beautiful toy, not even back on Destiny Islands.

“What are you doing here?”

Sora gasps and whirls away from the table, placing his hand innocently at his side. Coming down the steps from loft above is a short figure. He’s obscured in the shadows, but there’s something off about his body shape.

“Oh, uh, hi,” Sora greets the man. At least, he assumes that’s what the figure is. “I’m Sora. Um, sorry about your model, I just wanted to…”

“How did you get up here?” the figure demands, definitely a young man by the sound of his voice. “Why have you come?”

Sora frowns. “I’ll answer your questions, but first I want you to come out where I can see you. I really don’t feel comfortable having a conversation with a shadow.”

For a moment the small figure hesitates, but nevertheless he steps into the light, revealing a short young man with red hair. Sora almost doesn’t notice that, however, his gaze immediately going to the large hump in the man’s green tunic, the obvious source of his size and poor posture. He’s not the handsomest devil either, his face puffy in places with one droopy eye.

“Okay, here I am,” the young man sighs, very conspicuously looking anywhere but at Sora’s eyes. “Now tell me why you’re here!”

“I’m looking for my friends,” Sora replies coolly, trying hard not to spook the hunchback. “I just, uh… Well, I just got lost is all. I didn’t come to hurt you, or mess up your, uh, model.”

“There’s no one here!” the hunchback declares loudly, finally looking directly at the Keybearer. “No one ever comes up here, just me.”

Sora frowns. “Well, that sounds lonely,” he comments, leaning back against the model table. “Don’t you have _any_ friends?”

The hunchback bites his lip and sighs. “Well, sometimes I, uh, I talk to the gargoyles.” He moves to the table as well. “And of course I have my models to keep my occupied as well. I’ve done most of the city, even Notre Dame herself.”

“Must have a lot of time on your hands.” Sora picks up the closest figure, obviously a self-model of the deformed young man. “Oh, and by the way, what’s your name?”

“Quasimodo,” replies the hunchback. “And yes, I have a lot of time for working. Other than ring the bells and practice my lessons, it’s all I do.” After hesitating, he adds, “I’ve never actually left the tower.”

“Never?” Sora exclaims, shocked. “Why is that?”

“Master Frollo says that the outside world would be too dangerous for me,” Quasimodo replies with a sad sigh. “This is my sanctuary, you see.”

“But don’t you want to go, Quasimodo?” Sora asks, frowning at the thought of the young man’s isolation.

“There are days I do,” he sighs, heading towards the room’s exit. “Especially today.”

Sora follows him onto the balcony. Quasimodo looks down upon the square below, where there seems to be some sort of event happening, a crowd of people packed into the large space. Everywhere there’s color, and the noise filters all the way up to the balcony.

“What’s going on down there?”

“The Festival of Fools,” Quasimodo replies, resting his chin on his open hand as he gazes down below. “Master Frollo absolutely loathes it, thinks it’s nothing but a big drunken mess, but from up here…” The hunchback sighs wistfully.

“If you want to go,” Sora says carefully, “then I think you should go. Who knows, it could be really fun.”

Quasimodo gasps and shakes his head adamantly. “No, no, that’s not possible. Frollo attends every year, has to as a public official, and if he ever found out he’d… I’d… No, I just can’t!”

Sora narrows his eyes and bites his lip. It’s clear as day to the young Keyblade wielder that Quasimodo longs to go to this festival, finally participate after years of watching. But at the same time, his fear of repercussions is nearly crippling. There has to be some way to convince him, but how?

“Look at all those people down there, Quasimodo,” he says after a long minute, gesturing grandly to the packed square below. “There’s more people gathered down there than anyone could ever count! It’d be easy to get lost in that crowd, make it so no one would even recognize you. Not even this Frollo guy.”

Quasimodo uneasily looks from the bustling festival to Sora, shaking with nerves. “I guess… But what about, um, how would I deal with…?” Running out of words, he merely waves his hand over his deformed face.

Looking around, Sora spots a grey cloak hanging off the ledge of the loft. It’s made of very thin and rough material, but there’s a hood that should suffice as coverage. The Keybearer grabs it and hands it to Quasimodo. Reluctantly, the hunchback takes it.

For a long moment the young man just stares at the cloak in his hands, obviously still conflicted. But eventually Quasimodo takes a deep breath, throwing on the cloak and tugging up the hood.

“Okay, let’s go before I lose my nerve,” the hunchback declares with a self-deprecating smile.

Sora nods at his new friend. “Great. Now, where are the stairs?”

Quasimodo actually snorts, momentarily contorting his already unappealing face. “Oh, we won’t be using the stairs, Sora.”

The Keybearer looks at Quasimodo in confusion. “If we don’t use the stairs, then how will we…?” Suddenly the answer dawns on the boy. “Oh, really?”

“I’m a great climber,” Quasimodo assures him. “After all, I get plenty of practice.”

“Alright,” Sora says after a long moment spent remembering his treetop swinging with the wild man Tarzan on his last journey. With a little assistance he manages to clamber onto the hunchback’s back, wrapping his arms around Quasimodo’s neck for safety. “Let’s go to a festival!”

The climb down is not as bad as Sora had feared, but mostly he just avoids looking down, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the high tower of the cathedral. There are occasional bumpy spots that reflexively close his eyes in fear, but eventually he and his hooded escort arrive safely.

The festival is even more raucous on the ground than it seemed from the tower, throngs of people dancing and talking and eating all manner of foods. Colorful banners and pennants hang from long wires crisscrossing the square, and occasionally confetti rains down.

“Is it everything you imagined, Quasi?” Sora asks his companion, only to find that the cloaked hunchback has wandered off. Nervously biting his lip, Sora moves into the crowd, eyes scanning everywhere for his friend.

He finds him eventually, carefully watching a line of women go can-canning through the thoroughfare. All is well until one of the girl’s kicks comes too close, forcing the young man backwards. He tumbles into a bright pink tent, and there are sounds of surprise and consternation from within.

Sora lets out a gasp and rushes for the tent, hoping fervently that Quasimodo is okay. The Keybearer would never forgive himself if something happened to the hunchback while on an adventure he had prompted.

When he arrives, he’s relieved to see that everything looks more or less fine. Quasimodo sits on the floor, still looking a bit dazed. After a moment, however, Sora realizes that it isn’t his surprise fall that has Quasi dazed. Rather, it seems to be caused by the beautiful young woman hovering over him, looking concerned.

“Are you alright?” the girl asks. She’s wearing a red and gold dress with a wide, flowing skirt that looks perfect against her dark skin. “Looks like you took a nasty fall.”

“Sorry I couldn’t help,” Sora apologizes to his deformed friend. Taking one arm, he helps Quasi to his feet.

“I’m, uh, I’m fine,” the hunchback stutters out. “I just got a little, um…”

“Happens to the best of us,” the woman assures him, smiling brilliantly. “Even with all my dancer’s reflexives I take plenty of falls.”

“Thanks for understanding,” Sora says gratefully.

The girl shrugs. “No harm done. I’m Esmeralda, by the way. I’ll be performing soon on the big stage. Oughta be a crowd pleaser!”

“I’m sure it will be,” Sora replies with a smile. “Again, thank you.”

“No problem,” Esmeralda say with a shrug as she opens the tent flap for the boys to walk out of. She points to Quasimodo and grins. “And by the way, great mask!” She gives Sora a wink as well. “And I love that wig too!”

Across the square, Azlyn downs a huge glass of some funky beverage. It tastes a bit funny, but the buzz it immediately gives her is worth it.

She’s already reaching for another when Telary slaps her hand.

“Oh, come on!” the knight whines, rubbing her hand gingerly.

“We have to keep our wits about us, Azlyn,” the wizard reminds his counterpart, sternly wagging his finger. “It’s gonna be hard to find Sora in all of this mess!”

“Hey, it’s Sora!” she exclaims, pointing behind Telary. He turns around and sees Sora walking towards them, followed closely by a short figure in a hooded grey cloak.

As Azlyn runs up to the Keybearer, Telary lets out an exasperated sigh. “Of _course_.”

“No, Sora, it doesn’t look _that_ much like a wig,” Azlyn is saying as Telary approaches earshot.

“Hi, Sora,” the wizard greets his travelling companion. “Who’s your new friend?”

“This is Quasimodo,” Sora introduces with a wave. “Quasi, this is Azlyn and Telary.” The hunched over man says nothing, just nods curtly under his concealing hood. “He’s a little shy.”

There’s a sudden uproar from the crowd, everyone moving in towards the stage set up in the middle of the square. Sora leads the quartet along with the rest of the revelers, and with a little bit of pushing by Azlyn, they manage to get a spot at the front.

As they get closer to the wooden platform, Quasimodo glances down the long runway at the end of it, leading to a small pavilion with a high-backed metal chair. In the chair sits a wrinkly old man with a hooked nose that looks extremely bored. He’s surrounded by soldiers, including a man in golden armor that Azlyn and Telary recognize as Phoebus.

Sora notices Quasi hiding his face deeper in the cloak’s hood, instantly concluding that the man in the chair is the very same Frollo that’s been keeping the boy form leaving the bell tower for decades. The Keybearer gives the man a glare, but bites his tongue and remains calm. No need to make a scene.

Yet.

Speaking of scenes, up on stage a tall, thin man dressed in a colorful jester’s motley, purple and yellow and pink all loudly clashing against one another, leaps up into the air, turning somersaults. He finally lands on both feet, raising his arms and smiling at the crowd beneath the wide brim of his floppy hat.

“ _Come one/come all!”_ Clopin sings in a pleasant tenor voice. “ _See the finest girl in France/Make an entrance to entrance!_ ” Suddenly the man closes his purple-gloved hand, raising a fist high into the air. “ _Dance, La Esmeralda…_ Dance!”

The man throws down a fine purple powder that explodes into a cloud of pink mist that engulfs center stage. As it begins to clear, a feminine form can be seen inside. Recognizing the name, Sora can only guess that the woman in the mist is…

Esmeralda emerges from the smoke in her red and gold dancer’s outfit, a shining crown atop her head. She gives the tambourine in her hand a quick shake, then begins to dance.

“Wow,” Sora mutters as he watches the woman’s routine. All around him, festival attendees are muttering similar statements of quiet praise. Quasimodo can’t even say that much, too stunned by the dancing woman.

“Her form is pretty amazing,” Azlyn notes, examining the routine not like the average audience member, but rather as a devotee of dance. She looks at Telary to further explain, only to find that the wizard is just as enraptured as the rest of the crowd. Suddenly feeling a dull twinge in her stomach, the knight frowns and turns away.

Up on stage, Esmeralda notices the dour looks the judge sitting at the end of the runway is giving her, nothing but contempt in his eyes. Well, that just won’t do.

Throwing down her tambourine and grabbing a scarf from a hidden pouch in her dress, Esmeralda dances over to the judge, flicking her scarf in his face as she flits around him. For the big finish, she takes a seat in his lap and wraps the scarf fully around his neck, drawing him close. The scandalized look on his face momentarily amuses her, but just as it seems she’s close enough for their noses to touch, the gypsy woman bats his massive hat down into his face. An uproarious laugh goes up from the crowd as she dances away.

Frollo pulls his official cap back off his face, scowling. In his hand he clutches the scarf tightly, enraged by the lewd display.

For her big finale, La Esmeralda garbs a soldier’s spear, leaping up and impaling its point into her stage. Using her momentum she turns, swinging around the spear’s shaft to come in for a landing on her knees. As the final beat of her song plays, she nods her head in a miniature bow.

The square erupts with laughter and congratulatory applause as the gypsy woman stands, accepting the praise with a brilliant smile.

“That was…” Telary begins, trailing off as he loses the words, still clapping. “That was really something. What did you think, Azlyn?”

The knight shrugs, huffily crossing her arms over her chest and looking away.

The master of ceremonies who had introduced Esmeralda is back, smiling down at the enthralled throng crowding the stage.

“Well, citizens of Paris,” he begins excitedly, looking out over the masses, “it looks like _that_ time is finally here! Yes, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the crowning of the King of Fools!”

The crowd cheers as one, the noise hitting Sora and his companions like a wave of force.

“Today, we will once again seek to honor the _ugliest_ face in all of Paris!” Clopin declares. “You all remember last year’s king, don’t you?”

A pair of strong men arrive with a small palanquin balanced on their shoulders. A short, fat, ugly man with a face like a rotten apple sits atop it, everyone letting out a cheer as the man burps.

“You know the rules, people!” the announcer says, smiling widely and gesturing to Esmeralda. “Come on down and show us your foul side!”

A man crawls on stage, dressed in a red tunic and tights and wearing a large mask over his head. Soon more men join the first, all dressed in bright colors with masks over their faces.

Esmeralda seems to ignore them as they come on stage, however, instead making her way to Quasimodo. Smiling, she reaches down and offers the hunchback a hand.

For a moment he hesitates, but Sora nudges him in the side, grinning encouragingly at his new friend. In all the excitement, all thought of Frollo is completely forgotten. Quasimodo boldly climbs onstage, his hooded cloak falling back into the crowd, landing on Telary’s face. The wizard quickly whips it off.

Luckily for Quasi, Frollo is a bit preoccupied, still staring at the gypsy woman’s scarf in his hands, her scent still rising from it to pleasantly fill his nostrils. Beside the judge, Captain Phoebus laughs at the spectacle, remembering the festivals of his youth.

One by one the colorfully costumed men rip off their masks to reveal their most hideous visages, and one by one Esmeralda knocks them off the stage as the crowd boos. Finally she reaches Quasimodo, everyone in the square watching with interest. Sure this man’s costume is good, but can he possibly match it with what’s underneath?

Gripping the sides of the hunchback’s face, Esmeralda gives a hard tug, expecting a mask to come away in her hands. When she feels only the stretching of skin, she looks down at the man with wide eyes as the crowd gasps.

“Uh oh,” Azlyn whispers to the boys. Sora says nothing in reply, only gulping nervously. After all, he was the one who convinced Quasimodo to both attend the festival and climb on stage. Anything bad that happens to the hunchback is on him.

From his perch, Frollo finally draws his thoughts away from the dancer’s scarf, scowling as he realizes the bell ringer has disobeyed him.

“That’s his _face_!” a woman cries out from the crowd.

“A _monster_!” adds another.

“I don’t think he looks half bad!” Telary discreetly adds to the discussion, hoping to perhaps stem the tide of public opinion.

Luckily, Clopin steps in, waving his hands to draw the crowd’s attention. “Calm yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, please!” The gypsy grips Quasimodo’s shoulders and grins out at the crowd. “We asked for the ugliest face in all of Paris, did we not?”

The crowd begins to murmur some agreement, slowly coming around to the idea. After all, this _is_ what they wanted. At his perch in front of the stage, Sora realizes that the situation is in his hands.

“Hooray!” he calls out loudly, his voice easily rising above the nervous muttering of the gathered multitude. “Hooray for Quasimodo, King of Fools!”

It takes only seconds for Azlyn and Telary to deduce the Keybearer’s play, and they begin cheering as well, hooting and hollering their loudest to excite the crowd. Onstage, Esmeralda and Clopin add their own excited noises, and by the time Clopin has placed a shining crown upon the hunchback’s head, the crowd has fully accepted their new “king”.

“ALL HAIL THE KING OF FOOLS!” the crowd roars as one, a platoon of men gathering at the edge of the stage to lift Quasimodo up on their shoulders. In minutes, last year’s king is flung away from his palanquin, and Quasimodo placed in his stead.

Unfortunately, the former King of Fools lands perfectly in Azlyn’s arms. He waggles an eyebrow and blows a kiss, only for the knight to scoff and drop him roughly to the cobblestones.

The palanquin reaches a smaller wooden platform not far away, Quasimodo dismounting gracefully to the cheers of the crowd. His heart swells with a feeling he’s never known before, and he even chances a smile to Master Frollo. The judge does not return it.

That hardly matters to Quasimodo. All that he can see and feel is the crowd before him, excitedly calling his name and cheering at his presence. It seems that all of Frollo’s posturing about the hatred and evil of the world was nothing but talk.

Sora’s heart swells as he watches Quasimodo up on stage. Sometimes, his victories as the Keyblade master involve much more than defeating Heartless.

It all comes crashing down in a single instant.

Somewhere in the crowd, a soldier in black mail, one of the pair that had earlier accosted Esmeralda, produces a round, red tomato from within his armor.

“If you think he’s ugly _now_ ,” the oafish guard chuckles to his taller partner, “just wait!” With a malicious smile on his face, he rears back and hurls the soft fruit at the new King of Fools.

It impacts exactly as aimed right in the face. The instant it hits, the crowd goes silent, the only noise coming from the burst remains of the projectile sliding down Quasimodo’s face to land on the platform with a wet _slop_.

“Uh oh,” Azlyn mutters to herself. Sora says nothing, just grabs his companions’ hands and begins to pull them through the crowd, intent on getting to Quasi before the situation escalates.

But the crowd is too thick with people, and the trio find themselves trapped yards away as the situation degenerates, small projectiles flying through the air to crash into Quasimodo, who can do nothing but hide his face, tears chasing the remains of rotted fruit down his face to splash on the wooden boards of the stage.

Through it all, Frollo watches with a cruel sneer.

“Permission to end this cruelty, sir?” Phoebus asks his superior, almost unable to bear the malice being displayed before him. As Captain of the Guard, surely his duty is to all citizens of Paris, no matter how malformed they may be.

“Permission denied,” Frollo says dismissively, as if the captain is completely out of line to even pose such a question. “A lesson must be learned here.”

Phoebus closes his eyes and turns away, but it isn’t enough to assuage the guilt and shame welling up in his chest.

Even as the offworlder trio fights their way through the crowd, things get worse. The soldiers have graduated from fruit to ropes, throwing them around Quasimodo like the hunchback is a prize steer. The boy struggles, but the weight of his bonds is too strong, forcing him to his knees on the platform.

The crowd only laughs, except Sora and his gang still fighting through the throng, Keyblade out and ready. The sight of the mystical weapon speeds up the process, but it isn’t fast enough for Sora, his teeth gritted in determination.

In the end, the Keybearer’s fight proves unnecessary, as suddenly a feminine voice cries out, “ _Stop_!”

The command seems to overpower even the cruel amusement of the crowd, and silence descends on the square once more, even Quasimodo making no noise as he lets his head droop in defeat.

Suddenly, Esmeralda strides up the steps to the King of Fool’s platform. Quasimodo looks up at the girl with wide eyes, the sun framing her in a halo of soft light as if she’d descended from the heavens themselves. An angel. Slowly, cautiously, almost tenderly, she draws a thick handkerchief from a pouch, wiping away some of the filth covering his face.

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes with a heavy sigh. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I never wanted…”

“What are you doing, girl?” Frollo calls out across the square, scowling at the sight before him. “Get down at once!”

“Of course,” Esmeralda replies with a nod. “Just as soon as I free this poor boy.” Pushing aside her skirt, she plucks a small knife from the sheath around her ankle.

“You heathen wretch, I _forbid_ …”

It’s too late for orders now, as Esmeralda slices her small knife through Quasimodo’s bonds, cutting him free. Down in the crowd Sora smiles, glad that there’s someone who can help his newest friend while he cannot.

“How dare you…” Frollo snarls, his fists clenched so tightly the knuckles have become white.

“How dare _you_!” Esmeralda shoots back, narrowing her eyes at the judge. “You mistreat this boy the same way you mistreat my people! For all your talk of justice, you show nothing but cruelty towards those most in need of help.”

“You will pay for this, gypsy,” Frollo declares. For a moment, violet energy plays around his fingertips, unseen within the shadows of his covered chair. “Mark my words!”

“It occurs to me suddenly,” Esmeralda muses, plucking the Crown of Fools off of Quasimodo’s head, “that we may have crowned the wrong fool today. Sorry about the mix-up, _Your Majesty_.”

Rearing back, the gypsy girl tosses the crown to the stones before the judge’s seat. Once again proving that public opinion is a fickle beast, the crowd begins laughing as it lands, and Azlyn blows a long, rude raspberry in Frollo’s direction.

“Captain Phoebus!” Frollo orders his subordinate, rage and hatred dripping from every word. “Arrest that girl!” From his vantage point in the square, Sora swears he can make out a faint aura around the man. He’s not the only one, the Nobody in black smugly watching the scene from a nearby alley.

Before Phoebus can even react, the familiar sound of dark portals opening rings out across the square, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary gasping frightfully as they recognize it.

Heartless appear all around, mostly the small jumpsuited Soldiers, flashing their red claws at the Parisians. Unaccustomed to such creatures, the citizens wisely begin fleeing.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary have the exact opposite reaction, drawing their weapons and immediately charging out to meet the denizens of Darkness.

A few more portals open overhead to release a small cadre of Hook Bats, swooping down to face the Keyblade bearer. Through it all, Frollo watches from his seat with a look of shock upon his face. What are these abominations, monsters greater even than the bell ringer? How could they appear so suddenly? There is only one explanation.

“ _Witchcraft_ ,” he mutters to himself, looking up to see that the gypsy girl is gone, obviously fleeing from the scene of her blasphemous crime. “Captain Phoebus!”

The golden-armored man slices through a Hook Bat with a swing of his sword, then turns to face his superior officer. “Yes, sir?”

“These demons must be the work of the gypsy girl!” Frollo calls down. “We must find her at once!”

“But sir,” Phoebus protests, “don’t you think it’s more important to protect the…?”

“I _am_ protecting these good people, Captain,” the judge declares imperiously. “The only way they will ever truly be safe is if that heathen witch is burnt as she deserves! Now, find her!”

Phoebus nods and charges into the fray, swinging his sword wide and knocking a Soldier off its feet. His mission might be to find the alleged witch Esmeralda, but nothing Frollo had said specifically prevents him from fighting off these strange attackers while he searches. After all, with the other guards having apparently fled, it’s up to him and him alone to…

“Heads up!”

Phoebus turns to the voice just in time to see a round shield come flying at him from across the square. The soldier grimaces and ducks, turning his face just in time to see the metal disc knock three Hook Bats out of the air in quick succession.

Azlyn leaps up to nab her shield out of the air on the rebound, then lands with a heavy boot on a Shadow. Pausing to take a breath, she sees the golden armored man she’d seen back in the alley, staring up at her in bewilderment.

“What?” the knight shoots back defensively.

Across the square, Quasimodo cowers atop his platform, worriedly looking down at the attacking creatures. Even without the strange attack, this is still doubtless the worst day of the hunchback’s life. He never should have let Sora persuade him to leave his tower, should have never disobeyed his master…

An Air Soldier suddenly flies up into the boy’s line of sight, beady yellow eyes fixed on his trembling form. Quasimodo gasps in fright and surprise, stumbling back a step before he gathers his wits, turns, and leaps off of the small stage, sprinting with all he has for the doors of Notre Dame, his home and sanctuary…

Sora notices the hunchback’s flight, grimacing as the Air Soldier swoops down to attack. Making sure that Telary can handle the remains of a Shadow swarm, the Keybearer turns and sprints after Quasimodo, arms pumping as he tries to reach his friend.

But Quasimodo reaches the doors to Notre Dame first, heaving one open with a heavy creak. It’s a good avenue of escape, but his momentary stop to open the doors allows the Air Soldiers to catch up, diving at him with their claws outstretched…

Until they reach the threshold of the old cathedral, the Heartless sharply pulling back, emitting a high-pitched shriek that Sora has never heard from any Heartless before. Sora frowns, wondering what could have possibly caused such a reaction…

For a brief moment it seems that a kind of light glows over the entrance to Notre Dame, a sparkle that flickers so quickly it is almost impossible to notice. But Sora does notice, his mind quickly racing through possibilities…

“They can’t go inside the church!” he triumphantly exclaims after a moment. Turning to his allies, he calls out, “Azlyn! Telary! Get inside the cathedral, the Heartless can’t go inside!”

His companions hear him, each casting their gaze about the square to make sure that most of the festival attendees have made it safely away. Both scans reveal that not only have most of the townsfolk cleared away, but the Heartless have largely been taken care of as well. Content that they’ve done as much as they can, Azlyn and Telary turn tail and make for Notre Dame.

Along the way, Telary notices a hobbling old figure in a purple cloak, shuffling along with the aid of a cane. Looking slightly up, he notices a pair of Hook Bats swooping towards the man, closing the distance between them distressingly quickly.

Twirling his staff once, he gathers up the energy for a fire spell at its tip, hurling it towards the Heartless with as much power as he can muster, all the while breaking off his path to head for the old man.

The fireball engulfs the Heartless just as Telary arrives, offering his arm to the old man. He takes it, and the wizard helps him to the steps of the cathedral. Distantly, he thinks that the man’s hands are remarkably smooth for someone so old.

They reach Notre Dame in seconds, and with a grunt Azlyn and Sora heave the door shut. They’re standing in the midst of a grand hall, light filtering in from a huge stained glass circle embedded high up on the wall. The rest of the ambience is provided by low burning candles that seem to form rigid paths through the cathedral.

The first thing Telary does is check on the man he helped. “Are you alright, sir?” he asks, nervously biting at the inside of his cheek.

“I’m quite well thank you,” says the voice of a distinctly _not_ old man. Not a man at all, as is revealed when the cloak is flung away to reveal Esmeralda, grinning at her rescuers. “Thanks to you, of course.”

The gypsy girl lightly caresses the wizard’s arm, and for a moment his senses seem to short out.

“Uh, um, you’re welcome ma’am,” he says dutifully, turning away to hide his blush. Azlyn sees it though, and her face gets a little red for an entirely different reason.

“I owe you all thanks, in fact,” Esmeralda addresses the group at large. “Those… creatures that attacked, do you know what they are?”

“Heartless,” Sora explains with a frown. “They’re all kinds of trouble, and it seems like they get everywhere. Though not in here, I guess.”

Esmeralda nods. “I guess what they say about this place being a sanctuary is true, then.”

The word ‘sanctuary’ catches quickly in Sora’s memory, and suddenly he’s filled with another, rather dreadful thought.

“Quasimodo,” he says with a grimace. “With the attack I forgot that he’s had the worst day of all of us. He ran in here, I should go check on him, make sure he’s okay.” The Keybearer heaves a heavy sigh. “Apologize.”

“We’ll go with you, Sora,” Azlyn says.

Telary frowns. “Shouldn’t one of us stay with Esmeralda?”

Azlyn gives the wizard a look that distinctly informs him that if anyone is going to be alone with Esmeralda, it _isn’t_ going to be him.

“No need for that,” Esmeralda chimes in easily, shrugging. “I can take care of myself just fine, and anyway I need to find a way out of here before I get caught.” She shudders slightly. “I don’t even want to know what would happen if that judge found me.”

Sora nods easily. “I hope you make it out okay. And thanks for helping out Quasi when I couldn’t. If you hadn’t come along…”

“I was only doing what anybody should have.”

Sora and his friends make their way deeper into the cathedral on their hunt, and Esmeralda turns to seek an exit that isn’t the front door.

What she finds instead is Phoebus, standing before her with his arms crossed. He’s got a smug look on his (admittedly handsome) face, and it fills Esmeralda with a powerful urge to wipe it off.

“Fancy meeting you here,” the captain quips with a grin. “My mother always wanted me to meet a nice girl in church, you know.”

“Well, my mother told _me_ to avoid soldiers,” Esmeralda shoots right back. She looks the man before her up and down quickly. “Even handsome ones like you.”

Phoebus’s grin turns more genuine in an instant. “Well, that’s awfully nice of you to say.”

“Think of it as my way of apologizing.”

“For what?”

“This!”

With the reflexes of a cat, Esmeralda grabs a long candle holder, swinging the black iron pole directly for Phoebus. Unfortunately he proves to be just as quick, drawing and raising his sword into blocking position in time to intercept the attack. Esmeralda disengages and attacks once more, Phoebus backing up to avoid being hit. He keeps his sword at his side, only swinging it up to block.

“Candlelight, privacy, an organ,” he says with a lighthearted glint in his eye. “This is such a nice place for hand-to-hand combat. I’ve got to recommend this to all of my friends.” Esmeralda stays silent, only continuing her attacks. “Y’know something, I told you _my_ name, but you never gave me yours.” A particularly hard strike from the gypsy girl requires a two-handed grip to block, and for a moment the soldier and the dancer press closer. “Care to share?”

Esmeralda disengages and back up several steps, her weapon till pointed at the captain’s chest. “Is this an interrogation?”

“More like an _introduction_.”

A skeptical look crosses Esmeralda’s face. “You aren’t going to arrest me?”

Phoebus shrugs, sheathing his sword. “I can’t, not while you’re in here.”

“I’m not sure most other soldiers would see a distinction,” Esmeralda observes, placing her makeshift weapon to the side. “You’re not like the rest of them, I saw you helping me earlier today.”

“All that and you still won’t give me your name.” Phoebus grins, and this time the girl finds it endearing rather than slimy.

“Esmeralda!”

Before Phoebus can react to the new voice, Azlyn’s shield collides with his chest. He stumbles back a half-dozen steps, the wind knocked out of him. Esmeralda turns to see that Sora and his friends have returned, drawn back by the sounds of battle. Azlyn’s shield lands back in her hand.

“Is this guy bothering you?” Sora asks, menacingly brandishing the Keyblade.

Before Esmeralda can answer, the sound of Notre Dame’s doors being flung open echoes out into the large chamber. Turning to the noise’s source, the party spy Frollo, striding triumphantly into the church, black-armored guards at his side.

“Congratulations, Captain,” the judge commends smarmily. “You apprehended the witch.” He looks over the offworlders with disdain as well. “And other members of her heathen band, as well.”

Phoebus turns nervously back to the group. “Claim sanctuary!”

“You tricked me!” Esmeralda spits back accusingly. Sora and friends say nothing, but they don’t look any happier than the gypsy girl.

“What are you waiting for captain?” Frollo calls impatiently. “Arrest them!”

Phoebus takes a steadying breath, then spins on his heel to face his superior. “I’m, uh, afraid that I cannot do that, sir. They’ve all claimed sanctuary, you see. That means…”

“I know what it _means_ , Captain,” Frollo sneers, rolling his eyes. “If that be the case, the drag them out into the street and…”

“There will be none of that,” a new voice interrupts. Striding out from deeper in the church comes an old, gray-haired man in a white robe and grey and red frock, a golden cross hanging from his neck. “Minister Frollo learned long ago that the sanctity of the church is paramount.”

Frollo’s teeth grind together in abject rage, his temper barely contained before the archdeacon. “Very well, you may have your sanctuary.” He takes a step closer to Esmeralda, only stopping when the archdeacon’s eyes narrow. “But be warned: the moment any of you step one foot outside… You are _mine_!”

The judge exits, his men following along behind him. Phoebus starts to say something to Esmeralda, but before he can the archdeacon grabs his arm, leading him to the door. The captain turns to take a last look at Esmeralda, but the door slams on him in an instant.

“Ugh,” Azlyn groans. “I hate that guy. Did you see how he was looking at me?”

“I thought he was looking at Esmeralda,” Telary disputes, earning an affronted glare from his counterpart.

“Either way, I agree with you,” Esmeralda says harshly, shaking her head in disgust. “The way he allowed that boy out there to be treated made me so angry. I thought that if just one person could stand up to him…” She sighs longingly, defeated. “But I guess there’s really no one in the world who’s willing to help, huh?”

“Perhaps, my child,” the archdeacon chimes in, relighting the candles on the holder Esmeralda had wielded against Phoebus. “Though if no one in this world can help, perhaps you need to look to another.”

“What?” Sora blurts without thinking. Could this old man somehow know about him and his companions? King Triton of Atlantica had, somehow. Who’s to say there couldn’t be others?

The archdeacon just smiles and waves a hand up at an alcove, a huge statue of a man in fine robes holding a plump little baby.

“I refer, of course, to the world of our Father,” he explains. “Many have come to this place seeking answers. Many have found them. Perhaps you will too.” With his piece said, the old man strides away to attend to other duties.

“Speaking of finding things,” Sora says after a long minute of Esmeralda gloomily contemplating her situation, “I still want to see if Quasimodo’s okay. We stopped looking because we heard you fighting that guy.”

“He actually seemed pretty nice,” Telary comments as the quartet sets off deeper into the church. “The way he did that ‘sanctuary’ thing for us. If he hadn’t…”

“Shh,” Azlyn suddenly interrupts, holding up one hand commandingly. Everyone quiets down. “I just saw Quasimodo, I think. He went up that staircase over there, c’mon.”

Azlyn leads them up the narrow, winding steps to the upper reaches of Notre Dame, their only light provided by a few flickering torches. Up ahead, they can hear Quasimodo making a mad dash for his sanctuary.

“Quasi must get in some great cardio, going up and down these stairs,” Azlyn comments offhandedly.

Sora snorts. “I think you’d be surprised. Quasi isn’t much of a stairs person at all, actually.”

Finally they reach the top, rushing out into the late evening air, the setting sun in the distance casting an orange light over the stone balcony of Notre Dame’s roof. The tail end of Quasimodo can be seen fleeing into the far bell tower, and the group follow mindlessly, temporarily ignoring the view to their right.

“Please, let me apologize Quasimodo!” Esmeralda calls after the hunchback as they climb platforms towards Quasi’s lodgings. “Pulling you up on that stage was… well, if I’d known…”

“It’s actually _my_ fault,” Sora butts in, earning a quick glare from the gypsy girl. “I told you to leave your tower and go to that festival…”

“Oh, you just wanted him to get out and have some fun,” Esmeralda argues, hands on hips. “He could have had a great, anonymous time if I hadn’t…”

“He disobeyed his master because of me…”

“But Frollo wouldn’t have found out if…”

“Please, stop!” Quasimodo calls down to the pair arguing over their guilt for the day’s events. They look up to him sheepishly. “Thank you for the, um, apologies but please, don’t blame yourselves. I didn’t do anything I didn’t want to do today. Really, I’m not angry with any of you.” The boy turns on his heel and climbs back up a platform. “Just myself.”

Concerned, Sora and Esmeralda pursue the hunchback once more, Azlyn and Telary trailing along behind. When they reach the top platform, with Quasimodo’s model of the city particularly lovely in the light of the setting sun, the pair stops. Esmeralda looks around in awe, taking in every part of the space.

“This is incredible,” she says of the diagram, lightly caressing the bright glass hanging over it. “Did you make all of this by yourself?”

“Oh, uh, yes I did,” Quasimodo admits, puffing up a bit in spite of himself. “It’s my, um, my hobby you see. One day I hope to have the whole city done.”

“Really nice, Quasi,” Telary adds in, running his hand over the largest model, Notre Dame herself.

“Even I’m impressed,” Azlyn says with an approving nod. “In fact,” she continues, gazing all around, “I really dig this whole place you got set up here. Having this all to yourself must be nice. I could do without the bells, though.”

“Oh, but the bells are my favorite part of all!” Quasimodo protests. “I know all of their names by heart, actually. Would you, um, all like to meet them all?”

“Of course we would,” Esmeralda says encouragingly, one hand on Quasi’s non-humped shoulder. “Show us the bells.”

The hunchback lights up like the sun outside, and quickly scrambles up a rafter, excitedly waving his hand until the quartet below joins him. There’s an entire other level up there, with bells so close you could reach out and touch them.

“I never knew there were so many of these,” Esmeralda says as she casts her gaze over the bells.

“This is Little Sofia,” Quasi says with the air of a tour guide, caressing one small bell almost tenderly. “And there’s Jean-Marie, Anne-Marie, and Louise-Marie.”

“They must be triplets!” Sora giggles, earning a smile and nod from Quasimodo.

“What about this one?” Esmeralda inquires, approaching a massive bell taller than Sora, Azlyn, and Telary put together, so wide that you could almost comfortably live underneath it.

“That’s Big Marie,” Quasi says, as proud as anyone has ever heard him. “Sort of the den matron of bells.”

Esmeralda ducks into Big Marie, calling out, “Hell-oooo!” as she spins around inside, her arms outstretched wide. The single word echoes in the tiny space, as do the giggles that follow.

“Oh, my,” Quasimodo says slyly as Esmeralda clutches Big Marie’s tongue in both hands, “she really likes you.” Esmeralda and Quasi move on with the tour, while the offworlders examine Big Marie further.

“Does Quasimodo really ring all of these?” Telary inquires, ignoring Azlyn’s attempts to make an echoing fart-noise with her armpit.

“Uh, he said he did,” Sora answers distractedly, running his hands over Big Marie’s brass curve and thinking of another large bell, back in the Gizmo Shop in Traverse Town. That one had revealed the Keyhole of the world, but it still seems to pale in comparison to this one’s grandeur. “Why do you ask?”

“Well…” the wizard says cautiously, wincing as Azlyn lets loose with a burp that resounds inside the huge bell. “Azlyn, do you mind? Anyway, um, because if that’s the case then… To be honest, he should really be, like, _super_ deaf.”

“There are levels of deafness?” Azlyn asks with a chuckle.

Telary sighs. “Yes, there are actually, and…”

“Guys!” Quasimodo calls from across the tower, at the bottom of a long ladder leading to a skylight exit. “Are you coming? I’ve saved the best for last!”

Azlyn and Telary race to join their companions, Telary taking a moment to let out a sigh before he follows along after. The ladder creaks as the mage steps on the first rung, momentarily halting his progress with fear.

“Don’t worry, Tel,” Azlyn says, climbing down the few steps she’d already ascended and moving aside for her counterpart. “I’ll go behind you, and I promise to catch you if you fall. Okay?”

“Okay,” he relents with a self-deprecating smile, taking to the ladder once more.

Sora is right behind Esmeralda, ducking out of a small enclosure and into the fresh air at the cathedral’s highest point. He follows Quasi to the stone railing at the roof’s edge, looking over the side and laying amazed eyes on one of the most spectacular views he’s ever had the privilege of seeing.

The sun setting under far off hills bathes the wide, clean water of the River Seine in breathtaking hues of purple and gold, extending even further to encompass the city on either side of the river. From this height, it’s like being on top of the world.

“Oh, Quasimodo,” Esmeralda breathes, actually sounding choked up by all the beauty displayed before her. “Y’know something, I’ll bet the king himself doesn’t have a view like this.”

“Long way down,” Azlyn notes, her blonde ponytail flopping over her head as she leans out as far as possible.

“Please be careful,” Telary nervously cautions the girl, one hand resting protectively on her back.

The knight is almost tempted to spit over the side, but the feel of Telary’s hand against her quells the urge. She straightens up, and the wizard’s hand remains. Probably he’s just too stunned by the landscape laid out before them to remove it, but Azlyn likes having it there.

Sora discreetly watches the pair out of the corner of his eye, smiling as they engage in the coupleish behavior, even if they’d never admit that’s what they’re doing. He’s happy for them, but his heart aches to share something like this view with Kairi. The sunset reminds him of their last night together on the islands, just like all sunsets seem to do.

“I couldn’t stay here, Quasimodo,” Esmeralda is saying on his other side, and the Keybearer turns to look at the gypsy and the hunchback. They’ve taken a seat on the flat, conical metal roof. Esmeralda pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs them there. “Gypsies don’t do well inside stone walls.”

The hunchback frowns, obviously disappointed. “I understand. After all, you can walk the streets all you like. You’re not a monster like me.”

Now Esmeralda catches the frown, turning seriously to the redheaded bell ringer. “Don’t say that, Quasimodo. You’re a wonderful person. And besides,” she reaches out and wraps a hand around his wrist, briefly examining the boy’s palm, “I don’t see a ‘monster’ line anywhere on you. Though this one here means you’re shy.”

“I’ve seen plenty of monsters, Quasimodo,” Sora chimes in. When the hunchback turns to look at him, it’s clear that the Keybearer and his companions’ presence had completely slipped his mind. “You’re nothing like any of them. In fact, you remind me of a lot of my really good friends.”

“Now look at mine,” Esmeralda instructs, holding her palm out for Quasimodo to look over. “Do you see anything about me that makes that makes you think I’m evil, like Frollo said gypsies are?”

“No!” Quasimodo quickly exclaims, affronted by the mere suggestions. “You’re amazing Esmeralda. So kind and good, and…”

“ _And_ I’m a gypsy,” the girl concludes. “Frollo’s wrong about the both of us.”

“What did she say?” Telary whispers to Azlyn, finally able to look away from the grand vista now that the sun has set.

“Frollo’s nose is long, and he wears a truss,” the knight reports definitively, also a bit too distracted to pay attention to Quasimodo and Esmeralda. Telary frowns, but after a moment nods acceptingly.

Quasimodo stands up and takes Esmeralda and Sora by the hands, leading the pair back to the railing.

“You’ve both helped me so much,” he says, smiling at each one in turn. He nods to the city below. “Now it’s my turn to help you.”

“How are we supposed to get out?” Esmeralda asks nervously. “I mean, Frollo must have soldiers at every door!”

Quasi grins at her, the expression oddly charming on his mismatched face. “When you’re with me, you don’t _need_ a door.”

“You mean you’re going to _climb_ down?”

Quasi nods. “Unfortunately, I can probably only take one of you at a time.”

“I’m not leaving just yet,” Sora says, catching the interest of his companions. “The Heartless go where the Keyblade is, and the best way to keep this world… er, city safe is for me to stay here, where they can’t get to me. If I leave, they could show up again.”

“We’re staying with Sora,” Azlyn declares, clapping the boy on the shoulder. “Where he goes, so do we. Even if he doesn’t go anywhere.”

“You can stay the night,” Quasimodo promises the trio, leaping up onto the railing and holding his hand out for Esmeralda. She takes it, allowing Quasi to taker her in his arms. “Don’t be afraid.”

The gypsy girl scoffs. “I’m not afraid.”

With that confirmation, Quasi leaps over the railing, transferring Esmeralda to his back and gripping a protruding gargoyle in one hand.

“Alright,” Esmeralda can be heard saying, “now I’m a little afraid.”

From there they make their way down the side of the cathedral, Quasimodo easily skipping frog gargoyle to gargoyle and scurrying down whatever handholds he can find within the architecture. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary watch in silent fascination as the pair descends, wincing at every close call and barely-grabbed protrusion.

“Oh man, I can’t watch any more,” Telary says after a minute, turning away and shaking his head. What he sees behind him, however, isn’t much better. The wizard lets out a frightened squeak, and his companions quickly turn to look.

Phoebus stands on the roof, his gloved hands held out with both palms showing, signifying his weaponlessness.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Azlyn sneers at the captain.

“We’ve got sanctuary, and that means no soldiers!” Sora adds just as disdainfully. His hand practically itches to summon the Keyblade, but he staves off the urge.

“No please, everyone relax,” Phoebus says calmly, as if he’s talking to a spooked animal. “I mean you no harm, honestly. I just wanted to see the gypsy girl.”

“Oh,” Sora says, relaxing. “Well, you can’t see here. She’s, uh, well she’s…”

“Sleeping,” Telary chimes in for the save. “Like a rock. Really, you would not believe how solidly this girl sleeps. All that dancing must really… Anyway, you can’t see her.”

Phoebus sighs, but nods understandingly. “Very well then,” he says. “When you see her, when she wakes up, tell her that I never meant to trap her here. I was only trying to save her life.”

“We’ll tell her,” Sora assures the soldier.

“Uh, you kind of owe us an apology too,” Azlyn points out, annoyed. “I know everybody thinks this Esmeralda girl is such hot stuff, but you trapped us in here too.”

“Well then I apologize to you three as well,” Phoebus says humbly. “This is all just a misunderstanding that got out of hand.”

“We understand,” Sora says amicably, his kind and upbeat nature easily dismissing any grudging feelings. “You did what you thought would help. Thank you.”

Phoebus takes his leave, and not too long afterwards Quasimodo comes scrambling up over the railing. Some sort of circular woven band is on a cord around his neck.

“Everything go okay?” Telary asks. The hunchback nods, already drifting back towards the ladder inside.

“That’s an _interesting_ look you’ve got there Quasi,” Sora teases as they make their way back to the bell ringer’s home platform. “I take it things went _really_ okay?”

Quasimodo laughs, a messy, snort-filled guffaw that straddles the line between ugly and unspeakably cute, just like the young man himself.

“She gave me this,” he says as he takes off the amulet, setting it under his hollow model of Notre Dame for safekeeping. “And, uh… heehee. She, well, she kissed me.”

“Oooh!” Azlyn exclaims playfully.

“Wow!” Telary agrees, more sincere sounding.

“Well, it was really just on the cheek, but…” the hunchback lets out a sigh, half-wistful and half-disbelieving.

“I wouldn’t just ignore that, Quasi,” Sora advises, thinking fondly of his own first cheek-kiss. “You sure seem to have made an impression on her.”

“Yeah, but…” Quasimodo scoffs, waving his hand dismissively. “C’mon, I’ve got the ugliest face in Paris, as you might recall. Not exactly what Esmeralda is looking for, I can assure you.”

“Whatever you say, my friend,” Sora says with a shrug, watching Quasimodo as the hunchback moves around to make arrangements for the trio’s overnight stay. Sora’s not the most observant person in the universe, but he can definitely sense a certain spring in the boy’s step.

**KH-KH-KH**

Frollo paces in his private chambers atop the Palace of Justice, the flames crackling loudly in the fireplace and intruding on his thoughts. In his hand, he holds Esmeralda’s scarf. The girl’s scent faintly drifts up to his nose, but he dares not hold it closer for a better whiff.

It’s an abomination, this feeling churning inside of him as he thinks of the gypsy girl. The way she moved, her dance, even the defiance in her voice as they called out to one another across the decorated square.

“Heathen wretch,” he murmurs, stopping his pacing and turning furiously to the fire. “This must be another of her spells, I know it! Just like she used those, those _demons_ to cover her escape! Just another gypsy spell!”

“Is that what you really think happened?” a voice says, _within_ the flames.

Frollo jumps back, as startled as if the flames had skipped up and singed him. He stares even more intently into the fire, almost able to make out a shape inside. Like a man, slowly advancing towards him with purpose…

The flames roar once more, bursting from the fireplace to spill out into the room. Frollo continues his backpedaling, hands clenching Esmeralda’s scarf so tightly they turn white. The fire stays contained, forming an almost podlike structure. From them emerge a tall, skinny man in a black coat, hood raised to conceal his face.

“Who…?” Frollo breathes, unable to muster any more words.

“Oh, my name’s not important, buddy,” the cloaked man replies with a nonchalant shrug. “Just the things I can do for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“The girl had nothing to do with those Heart… uh, _creatures_ in the square,” the man explains, walking away from the fireplace and dropping into a small lounge chair. “Well, that’s not strictly true, actually.”

“What do you mean?” Frollo asks cautiously, still not entirely sure he isn’t having some sort of episode brought on by the day’s stress.

“ _You_ summoned them, Minister.”

“What?” Frollo turns away, affronted. “How could you suggest such a vile, disgusting thing? Those unholy monsters…”

“Are your reward, my man,” the cloaked stranger interrupts, his hands steepling together. “You’re all big on, uh, smiting the wicked and all that stuff, right? Well, these guys are the perfect tools to accomplish that.”

“How? They were unruly, ran wild through the square. Innocents were placed in danger!”

“Because you couldn’t control them.” The man in the cloak stands, steps toward Frollo. This time, the judge doesn’t recoil. “You didn’t know how then. But I could change that. You’d have your own elite force, not those bozos in the black armor you’ve got chasing purse snatchers.”

Frollo turns away, twisting Esmeralda’s scarf in his hands. Could this mysterious man be telling the truth? But if that’s so, why would he come out of the flames like the devil himself?

A knock at his door interrupts Frollo’s silent questions. He look to it, then back towards the strange man, only to find him gone without a trace. Another knock, insistent, draws his attention from the mystery.

“Come in,” he calls.

There’s the sound of the door creaking open, and then the voice of his household guard says, “It’s the gypsy girl, sir. She’s escaped.”

“What!” Frollo rounds on the soldier, stalking forward with a mad look in his eye. “How could she…? I…”

“Minister…”

“Get out, you imbecile!” the judge yells at his henchman. “Leave me be!” As soon as the door is closed, Frollo speaks, addressing the mystery man. “You said I could harness those creatures’ power for my own. Could they find the girl?”

“No problemo.” The man is leaning against the wall, like he’d been there all night. “There is one thing, however. A small condition, if you will.”

“And what might that be?”

“I can teach you how to harness the power of the Heart… The, uh, Righteous Ones.” The man stands up tall, his arms still crossed. “But in return, I want the boy with the key.”

“What?” Suddenly a memory from earlier in the day rises up in Frollo. The boy in the cathedral with the gypsy, he had…

“The spiky-haired kid in the weird clothes,” the cloaked man clarifies, certainly one to talk about strange attire himself. “He’s… Well, let’s just say we both have someone we want to see again. The context is way, _way_ different in our respective situations of course, but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you get your girl, and the boy comes with me.” There’s an ominous pause, and then, “Do we have a deal?”

Frollo considers it for a long moment. Those creatures had seemed to be nothing but wild demons, denizens of the pit all. How can he in good conscience use such vile beings for his own ends?

Then the judge thinks of Esmeralda, her heathen enchantments so expertly woven. If she could infiltrate the pure heart of a man such as him, what chance would lesser men stand? No, he must see her brought to justice, no matter what. No cost is too great in the battle for the soul of Paris.

“I accept your offer,” Frollo says, his head held high. “Show me how to tame the creatures, and you will have your boy, whatever purpose you have for him.”

The cloaked man rubs his black-gloved hands together gleefully. “Okay, gramps, we are in business. Now, pay attention, ‘cause there’s a lot to get memorized…”


	16. A Man And A Monster

The sound of a bell ringing very close to him awakens Sora in the morning, his eyes opening slowly as the noise echoes in the spacious bell tower. It’s annoying, but not quite as shocking as the feeling of two arms wrapped around his waist.

Telary moans behind him, the sound hitting the Keybearer directly in his ear. Sora begins to shimmy and shrug his way out of the wizard’s grip. They’d slept close by necessity through the last night, and apparently Telary likes to cuddle.

Climbing down the ladder from the loft, Sora looks up to see Quasimodo scurrying among the rafters, ringing the bells with all the enthusiasm and gusto of a man in love.

“Hi, Sora!” the bell ringer calls down, nimbly skipping down the rafters’ access ladder. “Did you have a good night’s sleep?”

The Keybearer shrugs. “Yeah, I guess. Better than the awakening, anyway. You?”

Quasi chuckles and shrugs, idly toying with one of his miniature human dolls. Examining it closer, Sora can see that it is clearly modeled after Esmeralda. The hunchback must have worked on it last night after Sora went to bed.

“It looks like her,” Sora says with a nod to the doll, respectfully reaching out a hand, which Quasi places Mini-Esmeralda in. Examining it closer, Sora can see that it is even more detailed than the rest of the models. Special.

“I hope one day she gets to see it herself.” There’s no doubt who Quasimodo is referring to as he takes the replica back, setting it gingerly atop the Notre Dame model, next to Quasi’s smaller wooden self. “She said she might come back here tonight, watch the sunset on the roof.”

Sora smiles. “That’s great!”

“Hey, guys!” Azlyn calls up. Moving to the edge of the platform, Sora and Quasi can see her standing in the tower entryway. “You might want to see this. That Frodo guy is having some kind of rally in the square. It… It doesn’t sound too good.”

Curious and nervous in equal measure, the hunchback and the Keybearer follow Azlyn outside. Far below, Frollo is indeed standing in the middle of the square, Phoebus and several other soldiers flanking him from the wooden stage that just yesterday Esmeralda had danced on.

“So far he’s just been waiting for everyone to get together, but I think he’s gonna speak soon,” Azlyn reports, gripping the stone railing in both hands. Behind the group at the edge of the walkway, Telary slowly emerges into the morning light, moving to stand beside Sora.

“I have here in my hand, signed by the king himself, a warrant of arrest,” Frollo announces to the assembled crowd, thankfully loud enough for his words to reach Sora and friends’ ears, “for the gypsy girl Esmeralda.”

The crowd in the square erupts in whispers and murmured conversation. Quasimodo’s grip on the rail tightens so much the stone actually cracks.

Frollo says something else about civic duty and the punishment for harboring or helping his quarry, but the quartet hardly hear any of it, far too worried.

“I shouldn’t have helped her escape!” Quasimodo laments, trudging frustratedly back into the bell tower. “If I had just kept her here…”

Telary shakes his head and places an encouraging hand on the hunchback’s shoulder. “You helped her escape because she’s your friend, and that’s what she wanted. It would have been more wrong to keep her here against her will.”

“And she would’ve gotten out whether you helped or not,” Azlyn adds. “She’s a clever lady, that Esmeralda.” A grimace mars the knight’s face. “Hopefully clever enough to give Frollo’s soldiers the runaround.”

“We’ve gotta go out there,” Sora declares with righteous anger. “If we can find her before Frollo, maybe we can help protect her.”

“But we had the same sanctuary deal as she did,” Azlyn points out.

“I don’t think Frollo really cares about us,” Telary argues. “Just Esmeralda. It should be safe for us to leave.”

The Disney Castle pair set off for the stairs to the nave, but Sora stops when he realizes that Quasimodo isn’t behind him. Turning, the Keybearer sees his misshapen friend climbing the steps to his loft.

“What are you doing, Quasi?” he calls up. “Don’t you want to find Esmeralda? We could really use your help with this.”

“I’m not going back out there,” Quasimodo protests firmly. “Not for anything. She even offered to take me with her when she left last night, but I said no. I am _never_ leaving this tower again.”

“You can’t just quit like that, Quasi!” Sora admonishes. “One bad experience doesn’t mean…”

“I won’t go, Sora,” Quasimodo repeats. “You can’t say anything that will change my mind. I’m done with the outside world.”

Sora sighs, turning away. “Fine, Quasimodo. Stay up here forever, alone. See how happy you end up.” Sora rushes to join his companions outside.

“Where’s Quasi?” Azlyn asks with an inquisitively raised eyebrow.

Sora sighs. “He isn’t coming. Let’s go, there’s a lot of city to search.”

They find an exit that leads into a small alley, away from the hullabaloo of the main square just in case Frollo does in fact hold a grudge against them. The small lane is quiet and deserted, but the sounds of soldiers marching nearby is clearly heard.

“Where should we start?” Telary asks nervously, seriously doubting the trio’s success in this venture. After all, Frollo and his men probably know the city like the backs of their hands. How could three Parisian neophytes possibly put on a more effective search? “Do we split up, or stay together? Make a grid, or just run around everywhere? I hate to say it, but…”

“Down here!” a gruff voice suddenly calls from the mouth of the alley. Whirling, the trio see a black-armored soldier standing there, sword in hand. “I got three kids for questioning.”

“Ha!” Azlyn scoffs, drawing her shield off of her back. “As if you could take us.”

The soldier ignores the knight’s threat, his gaze fixating instead on the Keyblade, newly summoned into Sora’s hands.

“What?” Sora asks the soldier boldly, his eyes narrowing.

Just then another soldier arrives, his sword already drawn. He turns to see what all of his comrade’s fuss is about, doing a quick double take at the sight of the Keyblade.

“Just like Minister Frollo said,” the second guard says to the first. “A boy with a sword like a key!”

“Let the new recruits handle it then,” the first soldier declares. He raises a hand, and suddenly three tall, lanky figures in full body suits of armor arrive, huge conical lances in hand. Emblazoned on their chests is the Heartless emblem.

“Heartless!” Telary cries out in fear. Looking closer at the lances in the dark creatures’ hands, he notices that the weapons actually seem to have some degree of life, jagged maws opening and closing as they approach the trio.

The Lance Soldiers attack, rushing the trio with their rabid lances. Azlyn blocks an attack with her shield, then knocks the creature’s visor straight off its helmet, revealing a face of pure shadow with two tiny yellow eyes peering out. Grunting, the knight punches her opponent in its face.

Telary reflects an attack magically, then knocks the Heartless back with a fireball. While the body of the Lance Soldier stumbles back, its lance continues forward, thrusting at Telary as if it were thrown. The wizard squeaks in fear and sidesteps, raising his staff to bat the living weapon away as it circles around to attack again.

The deflected lance flies straight into the Heartless Sora is facing in a Keyblade versus lance duel, stabbing straight through it. The creature and its angry weapon disappear. Azlyn crushes the last Heartless under her boot.

The human soldiers, seeing how easily these strangely dressed convicts defeated the supposedly superior reinforcements Judge Frollo had lent them, turn tail and run back down the street.

“Things are worse than we thought, I guess,” Telary says with a grimace, holstering his staff. “Those Heartless weren’t just random like the ones yesterday, the soldiers were actually working with them. That means Frollo must control them now.”

“I knew there was something off about that high and mighty jerk,” Azlyn notes angrily, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. “The Heartless must have picked up on how much he hates the gypsies.”

“I guess we need to find Esmeralda more badly than we thought,” Sora announces, dismissing the Keyblade and heading for the mouth of the alley.

For the rest of the day the trio wander the city, periodically encountering groups of Frollo’s thugs, who all invariably step aside to let the Heartless handle them. It begins to get tedious after a while, especially with a frustrating lack of progress on finding Esmeralda. The only bright spot is the clear frustration of the groups of soldiers, indicating that they thankfully aren’t having any more luck in their hunt.

“Help!” a voice calls down a crowded street of residential homes, immediately catching Sora’s attention. He bolts down the street with his allies in tow, finding himself smack dab in a Heartless attack on a small band of brightly dressed gypsies.

The trio immediately go to work, clearing out the Air Soldiers and Large Body with strength and teamwork.

“Thank you for your kindness,” says the leader of the band, a small man dressed in red and yellow motley. “Frollo set those creatures on us after we refused to give up the location of Esmeralda and the Court of Miracles.”

“Court of Miracles?” Sora asks curiously.

“Our hidden haven,” the gypsy leader answers nervously. Clearly this is an uncomfortable topic for him. “Frollo has been searching for it for decades, but still hasn’t a clue where it is. Its location is our most closely-guarded secret.”

“Is Esmeralda there?” Telary asks.

The gypsy shakes his head. “No. But there are many other hiding places within and just outside the city where she might have gone to ground.”

“That’s another thing that worries us,” says a woman in a purple and red dress. “Frollo’s men have all but destroyed several places that offer shelter to our people. He said he was going to the miller’s outside the city next. The family there has a hidden room that gypsies coming in from outside the city sometimes stay in.”

“Where is this miller?” Sora asks resolutely. The gypsies give him instructions to find it, and the trio quickly hurry off to see if they can prevent Frollo from doing too much harm there.

When they arrive at the mill, it is unfortunately too late to do anything. The place is burning, flames crackling loud enough to be heard across the long stone bridge leading from the city to the grassy outskirts.

In the middle of the bridge, Frollo sits astride a massive black horse, yelling madly and directing his troops to fire a barrage of arrows into the water. Not wishing to be seen, the trio take refuge underneath the bridge support.

“Look!” Azlyn whispers sharply, pointing across the small river. On the opposite bank, Esmeralda hides in much the same way as the trio, her gaze darting fretfully from the soldiers above to the spot their fire is concentrated on.

“Stop wasting your arrows!” Frollo calls out to his men, sneering down at the river as if it has personally affronted him. “The traitor can rot in watery grave! Focus your efforts on the gypsy girl!”

“And the boy with the key,” a new voice adds. There’s something in it that Sora finds oddly familiar, and stretching his neck he takes another look at the bridge. A man in the uniform of Organization XIII, hood up, stands by Frollo’s side, thin arms crossed sternly. “Don’t think you can weasel your way out of our bargain, Frollo.”

The sounds of hooves and feet walking across the bridge come closer, as the judge and his party move on. Across the water, Esmeralda wades in, taking a deep breath before diving in. Telary and Azlyn watch her, while Sora remains concentrated on Frollo and the Nobody.

“My first priority is the gypsy,” Frollo replies haughtily, his voice moving farther off as he goes towards the city. “But the soldiers know what to do if they see your ‘Sora’. Rest assured, you will have him as surely as I will the witch.”

“I’d better,” the Nobody almost mumbles, Sora having to really strain to hear. In moments, the entire party is gone, leaving the Keybearer with only concern for the Organization’s plans for him.

His self-pity evaporates as Esmeralda and Phoebus emerge on shore. The captain looks bad, barely breathing and with an arrow stuck in his shoulder. His gleaming armor is gone, leaving him in just a white tunic and cream-colored tights.

“Esmeralda!” Sora calls to the gypsy, the trio rushing to her and Phoebus.

When the gypsy girl sees him, she smiles. The look doesn’t last long, however, morphing into one of shock and horror. Turning nervously, the trio see five Lance Soldiers and a pair of Large Bodies advancing on their position, obviously meaning business.

“Get out of here!” Azlyn orders the gypsy, her shield already out for battle. “We’ll hold these guys off!”

Esmeralda nods. “I’m taking him to Quasimodo. He can recuperate in the bell tower.”

“We’ll see you there!” Sora promises the girl. She darts off, Phoebus flung over her shoulder like luggage, while Sora and his companions prepare for business.

The battle is long and hard fought, Azlyn getting a little banged up in her foolish but bold attempt to take on three Lance Soldiers at once, but the trio manage to win the day.

“I should have gone with Phoebus,” Telary laments, passing a large potion bottle around. “I could have healed him easily.”

“There’s still time, Tel,” Sora assures his wizardly friend. “We’ve got to get to Notre Dame, and Quasimodo.”

**KH-KH-KH**

It takes a lot of maneuvering and close calls, but they make it to the bell tower in less than an hour. When they enter, they find Quasimodo sitting on the bottom step, his head in his hands.

“What happened, Quasi?” Sora says, laying a concerned hand on the bell ringer’s hump. “Is Phoebus alright?”

For some reason that just draws a silent sob out of the boy, and for a moment the trio all fear the absolute worst.

“Sora!” Esmeralda calls down from above, her face lighting up as she looks the trio over. “Phoebus is going to be alright!”

“I should, uh, go see if there’s anything I can still do,” Telary says nervously, edging around the distraught Quasimodo. Azlyn follows along after him, leaving the hunchback alone with Sora.

“Esmeralda said Phoebus is okay, but you’re still upset.” Sora isn’t the most perceptive person in the universe, but even he can tell the basic gist of what has happened. “What did…?”

“They, they _kissed_ ,” Quasimodo hisses through his now openly flowing tears. “I think they might… I think they’re in love.” He stands abruptly, shouldering Sora aside as he marches toward the tower exit to the roof.

“Quasi…”

“But of course they are!” the hunchback says bitterly, leaning against the doorframe. “Why shouldn’t she be in love with him? He’s so noble and, and, and _handsome_ , and I’m just…” Quasimodo sighs deeply, his entire body drooping “Well, I suppose it’s only to be expected. I just wasn’t meant for Heaven’s Light.”

Sora opens his mouth to offer what comfort he can, but Quasimodo turns back toward him before he gets the chance, his eyes wide and frantic.

“It’s Frollo!” Quasi states numbly, stumbling a little into the tower. “He’s coming this way, and there’s someone in a black coat with him!”

Sora races out the door, hitting the railing and looking over it to the square below. Frollo is indeed coming towards the church, a small basket in his hands. Lance Soldiers instead of humans flank him, and the Organization XIII member is following closely. When Sora turns back to the bell tower, Esmeralda is already almost out the door.

“Thank you, my friend,” Esmeralda is saying to Quasimodo, one hand leaning against his cheek tenderly. “I know you’ll do all you can to keep him safe.” With a nod to Sora, the gypsy girl takes off, heading for the south tower steps.

“We should go too,” Sora declares, looking back to the square. Frollo is gone, already inside the church, but the Nobody stands outside with the Lance Soldiers.

“We gonna pick a fight with that guy?” Azlyn asks. She and Telary have crept up while Sora wasn’t looking.

“It seemed like he really wanted to find me,” Sora says with a shrug. “I think it’s time to properly introduce myself.”

“It’s too late for you to go down the steps!” Quasimodo says fearfully. “I still have to hide Phoebus, and Frollo…”

“We don’t need stairs, Quasi,” Telary says, drawing his staff. Concentrating, he waves it over the trio’s heads. “Feather Fall!”

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary all step off the cathedral roof, Telary’s spell slowing their descent so they can land safely, right on the steps in front of the Nobody, who barely seems to react to their arrival.

“So, after all this business with the old man, you came to _me_ ,” the Nobody says, condescension evident in his voice. “And you brought your little buddies too.”

“You seem to have made a buddy of your own,” Azlyn says venomously. “I’ll bet Frollo was easy to con into controlling the Heartless for you.”

“As a matter of fact, he was. Hearts sure do make you Somebodies do some strange things.”

“What do you want, huh?” Sora asks aggressively, waving the Keyblade threateningly in his hand. “Why are you looking for me? Some kind of Organization scheme?”

The Nobody chuckles mirthfully, his hood shaking in apparent disbelief. “Kid, you don’t know how funny that is to hear you say.”

“Well, you’ve found me! What are you gonna do now?”

The Nobody shrugs. “Nothing right now. Not with your little friends in tow. I’d been hoping we could have a one-on-one chat. Or one-on-two, I guess.”

“This guy’s even weirder than the other Nobodies!” Azlyn declares mockingly. “Sora’s with _us_. Anything you want to say to him, you say to me and Telary!”

“Uh, yeah you do,” Telary nervously adds after a look from his counterpart.

“We’ll see about that.” With a snap of his gloved fingers, the mysterious Organization XIII member disappears into a dark portal.

“These Nobodies seriously confuse me,” Azlyn notes bitterly, hanging up her shield. “At least with Pete it’s all ‘blah blah Heartless army, conquer the worlds blah’, y’know? These hooded guys are all just kooks.”

Sora nods in concurrence, but something nags at him, like a tickle at the back of his mind. That Nobody _had_ seemed oddly familiar, in a way that no other member of the Organization has before.

“We can worry about him later,” Telary reminds the group. “It sounds like he’s not gonna try anything as long as we stick together. But we need to get back to Quasi and Phoebus. We…”

The doors of Notre Dame begin to creak, and instantly the trio seek cover behind the cathedral’s grand pillars. Frollo smirks as he descends the front steps, summoning another pair of Lance Soldiers as soon as he’s off the holy ground. He gets in his black iron carriage and is away.

“He seemed happy,” Azlyn notes with concern. “I hope it isn’t because…”

The doors creak open once again, but this time it’s Phoebus who emerges, his face set in a grimace. Seeing the trio, the expression only deepens.

“Frollo says he knows where the Court of Miracles is,” the former captain answers the silent question. “He’s going to attack at dawn with a massive force.”

“Well we’ve got to warn them!” Telary says.

“How can we do that if we don’t know where it is?” Azlyn scoffs, her arms crossed huffily. “It’s apparently the biggest secret in all of Paris!”

“Is, uh, Quasi behind you?” Sora asks, frowning mildly.

Phoebus rolls his eyes. “No, he said he won’t come out, not even for this. I thought he was Esmeralda’s friend, but…”

“He’s had a rough time lately,” Azlyn defends the hunchback. “Why should he help somebody who just rejects him?”

“Azlyn…” Telary begins admonishingly.

“I’m not saying it’s right of him, I just…”

“Wait here a minute,” Sora interrupts, steeling his expression and starting up the cathedral steps. “I’m going to talk to him.”

That proves unnecessary, as just as Sora reaches the door, Quasimodo drops off the stair’s overhang, his grey cloak wrapped around him. The boy’s appearance startles all assembled.

“I’m coming with you,” Quasi whispers. “Not for any of you, but for Esmeralda. As soon as she’s safe, I am coming back here and staying in my tower.”

“Then you know where she is?” Phoebus asks.

The hunchback shakes his head, reaching underneath his tunic for something. “No, but she did give me this.” He pulls out the circular woven band, tied to a leather cord.

“Excellent!” Phoebus declares, taking the band and holding it up to his face. The former captain is grinning like a loon. “This is great! This… Um, what exactly is it?”

“Looks like a fish, kinda,” Azlyn observes thoughtfully. Everyone looks at her to elaborate, but she just shrugs. “Hey, this kind of twisty turny mind thing isn’t my department, so unless you think punching that will help us out, I pretty much got nothing.”

“It could be a code,” Telary suggests, squinting at it. In the center of it is a white cross, surrounded by a blue circle. Outside the circle is a white dot with a black cross inside, but those are the only distinguishing marks.

“Arabic, possible,” Phoebus suggests. “Ancient Greek maybe, that’s pretty cryptic.”

“Are you holding it upside down?” Azlyn asks loudly, attempting to snatch it. Phoebus pulls it out of her grip, and the knight gets her trademark indignant look in her eyes.

Sora and Quasimodo hang back as a lively discussion that only just barely avoids becoming an argument breaks out among the other three. Sora notices that the hunchback is looking extremely thoughtful.

“What are you thinking, Quasi?” Sora asks over the sound of Azlyn loudly sniffing at the amulet and declaring that it smells like goat, which could be some kind of clue.

“Esmeralda said something when she gave this to me,” he replies, ignoring Phoebus taking his own whiff of the mysterious object. “She said that ‘when you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand’.”

“The city…” Sora repeats, thinking it over himself. Meanwhile, the brain trust are holding the amulet up to perhaps divine something from the stars.

“It’s a map!” Quasi declares, snatching the mystery object right out of Telary’s hand. “This cross is Notre Dame, and the blue ring is a river!”

“So this other dot must be the Court of Miracles!” Telary finishes. “Great work Quasimodo!”

“I’m not sure,” Phoebus chimes in, scratching at his golden beard. “I’ve seen a lot of maps, and…”

“Well I know the city from above!” Quasimodo argues, pushing a large finger against the former captain’s chest. “Esmeralda gave this to me because she knew I had the best chance of figuring it out!”

“Guys, cut it out!” Telary interjects, Azlyn pushing Quasi and Phoebus apart before things get physical. “This isn’t helping Esmeralda.”

“You’re right,” Phoebus agrees. “Truce?” To make his point he lightly touches Quasi’s back.

“Sure, truce.” The hunchback gives Phoebus his own pat, but it’s more of a forceful thump.

“Quasi…” Sora admonishes.

“Sorry, Phoebus.”

“You are not!” the disgraced soldier shoots back. But, with a truce called, the trio can finally set off on their journey to the hidden gypsy refuge, Quasimodo and Phoebus bickering over who should lead.

**KH-KH-KH**

Their journey isn’t long, and in perhaps half-an-hour they arrive at a small, grassy cemetery near the outskirts of the city. Many tombstones stick up out of the ground, but the quintet only have eyes for a large mausoleum, the same cross from the amulet carved into its stone face.

“This looks to be it,” Phoebus declares, placing his palms on the lid of the stone casket jutting out from the bottom of the crypt.

Azlyn looks away from it, getting uncomfortable Isla de Muerta stone chest flashbacks. Telary leans in closer.

“There’s an inscription here,” Telary notes, sparking a fire from his staff as a makeshift torch. “I assume you can translate, Phoebus?”

“It’ll take a few minutes, but I’m sure…”

The former captain is cut off as Quasimodo lets out a grunt and shoves aside the coffin’s lid, revealing a long set of stone steps leading down underground.

“The direct approach,” Azlyn says appreciatively, clapping a hand on Quasi’s hump. “I approve!”

They all shuffle down in a line, Telary grumbling about having to go first, but then he _is_ the one with the light. After a long minute they emerge into an underground chamber. Water up to their ankles waits to be sloshed in, and one by one they oblige.

“This is the Court of Miracles?” Quasimodo questions.

“More like the Court of Ankle-Deep Sewage,” Azlyn quips.

“Uh, those are skeletons all lying around, right?” Sora asks as they proceed into the cavern. And indeed they are, bones stacked in piles taller than any member of the group.

“I was really trying not to think about that Sora,” Telary whines, keeping his gaze focused on the murky water below.

“C’mon, Telary,” Azlyn teases her counterpart, “at least _these_ skeletons aren’t trying to kill you.”

“ _What_?” Phoebus exclaims incredulously.

“It’s a long story,” Sora replies dismissively. “Let’s just say me and Azlyn and Telary have had a lot of odd adventures.”

“Fascinating,” is all Phoebus has to say to that. “Being around these guys kinda make you want to get out more, Quasimodo?”

“Definitely not,” the hunchback says firmly. “As soon as we warn Esmeralda, I’m going straight back to the bell tower. I can’t get in any more trouble there.”

“Speaking of trouble,” Azlyn chimes in, “has anybody else noticed that we haven’t run into any yet?”

“What do you mean?” Sora asks naively.

“This is the best kept secret in Paris, right?” Azlyn says, as if explaining an old lesson to schoolchildren. “From what I understand, the gypsies wouldn’t give up its location on pain of death.”

“Ah, I see your point,” Phoebus says understandingly. “And you’re absolutely right. We should have encountered some defense by now. A guard, or a booby trap.”

In an instant, the flame at the end of Telary’s staff is snuffed, leaving the quintet in pitch black darkness.

“Or an ambush?” Telary suggests.

“I’d say that’s a solid guess,” Azlyn says agreeably.

Suddenly the sound of men laughing echoes in the space, and within seconds a ring of torches have ignited above. Looking up, the group sees men dressed in black, their clothes made to look like skeletons, obviously to camouflage themselves in the bone pile for any unexpected guests. The men jump down and grab at the quintet, holding their arms behind their backs and forcing them to their knees.

“Well, well, well,” the familiar voice of Clopin says, emerging from a doorway at the tunnel’s other end. He’s no longer dressed in his bright motley, but instead a blue outfit with a dark purple shawl, giving him a much more menacing look. “And who are these fine people?”

“Trespassers!” yells the man restraining Sora.

“Spies!” Phoebus’s guard adds.

“No we’re not!” Quasimodo protests, trying hard to shake off his captor. He doesn’t get the chance to say anything else before he is gagged, along with the rest of the group.

“Wait a minute,” Telary manages to get out before his gag is tied in place. There’s something very familiar about the man behind him. “You’re that blind man I gave munny to!”

“What can I say?” the obviously not blind man replies with a throaty chuckle. “Thank you!”

“This is the Court of Miracles, my good man,” Clopin chimes in with a sly smirk. “Here, the lame can walk, and the blind can see!”

“What did I tell ya?” Azlyn gloats before getting a face full of blue cloth.

“Of course,” Clopin chuckles mirthfully, “the only miracle _you’ll_ experience is if you get out of here alive! To the noose!”

Forced to their feet, the gypsy defenders of the Court of Miracles forcibly march their prisoners out of the tunnel, into a huge underground chamber, big enough to almost fit Notre Dame herself inside. It’s packed with colorful tents and stalls, wagons resting by the walls.

But the main feature, and the one that most concerns Sora, is the large platform suspended high in the air, two tied nooses dangling down above it. Quasimodo and Phoebus are pulled up the steps to the platform, while Sora, Azlyn, and Telary are restrained off to the side, to watch the execution about to take place. And they’re not the only ones, every gypsy in the cavern gathering around to see the spectacle.

“We’ve got a real treat for you all tonight, my friends!” Clopin announces grandly as the nooses are looped around Quasimodo and Phoebus’s necks. “Spies from Frollo himself! The captain of the guard and his bell ringing henchman, in fact!”

There’s a loud booing from the crowd. Obviously they don’t take very well to trespassers, and why should they? When you live your life in fear, anger soon follows.

Clopin continues his spiel, humorously acting out the parts of a lawyer and judge arguing over the “case” of the hunchback and the disgraced captain. As he speaks, Azlyn decides that she’s had enough of being held captive.

With a grunt, the knight breaks the grip of her guard, turning and jabbing her fingers quickly into his throat. The man sputters and stumbles back, clutching his neck and wincing in pain. Sora’s guard is next, a kick to his shin followed by a fist to the back of the head felling him.

The man behind Telary draws a dagger, but Azlyn knocks it aside almost contemptuously with her open hand. Her next hit knocks him to the ground.

“Trick my friend, huh?” Azlyn growls down at the con artist, yanking her gag down to her neck. “Never a good idea, buddy. _Never_!”

“Great job, Azlyn,” Sora congratulates his friend, pulling off his gag. “Now we just have to get…”

“Stop!” Esmeralda’s voice calls out, immediately halting the hanging. It’s not a moment too soon, either, as Clopin has both hands wrapped around the platform’s release lever.

The crowd parts as the dancing girl walks toward the platform, quickly skipping up the steps.

“These men are our friends!” she declares, pulling Phoebus out of the noose before moving to Quasi. “Phoebus saved the miller’s family, and Quasimodo helped me escape the cathedral. And those three down there saved Julien’s family from Frollo’s creatures!”

Looking into the crowd, Sora can see the gypsy family the trio had rescued from Heartless, smiling and giving them an acknowledging nod.

“Well why didn’t they just say so?” Clopin asks.

“We _did_ say so!” Phoebus and Quasi simultaneously snap. Clopin only shrugs in response.

“We came to warn you all!” Phoebus calls out, rushing to the edge of the platform and addressing the entire court at once. “Frollo knows where you’ve been hiding, and at dawn he attacks!”

A great gasp rises up from the gypsies as they realize that their last safe sanctuary is about to be taken from them.

Seeing panic beginning to take hold, Esmeralda steps up to calm the populace. “We can waste no time, everyone,” she calls out steadily. “We must leave at once!”

The gypsies all set out to gather their belongings, transferring whatever they can into their wagons. None of them are at all sure of where they will go next, but that can be decided after their safety is guaranteed.

Sora’s group unite with the Parisian natives at the bottom of the ladder up to the platform, exchanging quick pleasantries with Esmeralda.

“You took a terrible risk coming here,” the gypsy girl says, hugging Phoebus close. “We may not have showed it very well, but we’re all grateful.”

For a moment the captain accepts the praise, but with one look at the dejected Quasimodo, he sobers, backing away from Esmeralda.

“The credit goes entirely to Quasimodo,” he says, clapping the hunchback on the shoulder heartily. “If it weren’t for him, we never could have found this place.”

Across the court, a high-pitched scream rings out, in seconds joined with many others. The group rush to the source, and find a family of gypsies under attack, Rapid Thrusters and Soldier Heartless closing in on them.

Sora and his companions leap into the fray with weapons drawn. By the time the battle is joined, another cry for help echoes across the underground chamber. Then another, and another, until finally the Court of Miracles is a massive cauldron of chaos.

But the Heartless aren’t behaving as they normally would, devouring hearts wherever they can. The creatures seem more interested in crowd control, herding the gypsies towards the court’s central square. Eventually, even the heroic trio find themselves crowded in, surrounded on all sides by Heartless.

“Twenty years I have searched,” the harsh voice of Frollo gloats, “and now I have finally found the fabled Court of Miracles!”

A loud gasp goes up from the gypsies as the judge strides in, human soldiers following after him. Sora looks for the Organization member, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Frollo stops in front of Quasimodo, and soldiers grab Phoebus, Esmeralda, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary.

“And it’s all thanks to you, my boy.” He reaches out and pets the hunchback’s hair like he would a loyal dog. “I always knew you’d be of use to me one day.”

“No,” Quasimodo whispers brokenly, falling to his knees.

“What are you talking about?” Esmeralda demands seethingly.

“He led me right to your little hideaway, my dear,” Frollo replies, creepily caressing her cheek with a finger. The gypsy girl turns away from the touch.

“You’re a liar,” she says.

“And look, it’s Captain Phoebus!” The judge laughs in his ex-subordinate’s face. “Back from the dead, I see. How miraculous!” Frollo turns away to address the crowd at large. “I’m having a little bonfire in the square tomorrow, and you’re all invited.” The meaning of this declaration is not lost on the gypsies, who all wear expressions of shock and horror.

Azlyn, tired of this old man’s monologue, breaks the grip of her guard and charges. The judge sees her attack out of the corner of his eye, and holds up a hand. Suddenly the knight goes flying back, dark energy playing around her body for a moment. It appears Frollo has grown more powerful in the art of Darkness.

“Lock them up,” Frollo orders his soldiers, who begin rounding up gypsies into smaller groups and leading them away. He turns to Quasimodo, gesturing to Sora as well. “And take these two to the bell tower. And make sure they can’t escape.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Dawn comes to Paris, and the square in front of Notre Dame is packed with people. Some have come for entertainment, others out of malice for all gypsies, and others are being forced to watch, locked in cages like unruly animals.

Included among the last category are Azlyn and Telary, trapped in an iron cage with Phoebus. The former captain stands against the bars, his gaze firmly locked on Esmeralda, tied to a wooden pole with brush at her feet, up on the center stage for all to see. All around, Heartless hold back the populace. There are no human soldiers remaining, all victims of the Heartless’s hunger. It’s a minor miracle that Frollo’s will is strong enough to keep the dark creatures off the normal Parisian citizens.

“Can’t you break us out of this cage, Tel?” Azlyn demands of her wizardly counterpart. “We have to help Esmeralda!”

“If we get out of here, we’d only end up having to face all those Heartless,” Telary sighs, shaking his head. “And without Sora to help, I don’t think we could win that battle. This doesn’t look good.”

On stage, Frollo approaches Esmeralda, a torch blazing in his hands. He can hear the cries of indignation from the gypsies and those few citizens unhappy with this form of so-called justice, but it all seems like background noise next to the sound of flames crackling in his ears.

“The gypsy Esmeralda has been accused of the crime of witchcraft!” the judge calls out, holding the torcher higher in the air. “The sentence is death by burning!” He turns to Esmeralda now, the fire in his hand reflecting the crackling rage and contempt he feels inside. “The time has come, Esmeralda. There is still a chance for you to recant. All it will take is a choice: Me, or the fire.”

Looking into Frollo’s face, so close she can fell his breath against her skin, Esmeralda can see the lust, madness, and darkness in his eyes. He thinks that he has given her a choice, but there is only one way for her to respond to his offer.

Esmeralda spits in Frollo’s face, a useless but importantly defiant gesture. The crowd gasps as the judge recoils, and the gypsy girl thinks she can hear Azlyn cheering her decision.

“Esmeralda has refused to recant!” Frollo calls out to the gathered crowd, which seems an easy conclusion to draw from the events that just unfolded. “This foul witch has endangered the lives and souls of all of Paris…”

Frollo’s words drift up to the ears of Sora and Quasimodo, who watch the oncoming execution with fear in their hearts. The hunchback’s arms and torso are tied to stone pillars on either side of him, leaving him unable to move beyond useless thrashing. He doesn’t even try that approach however, too consumed by guilt, fear, and self-loathing.

“Come on, Quasimodo!” Sora encourages his friend, thrashing against his own restraints. The Keybearer is bound to a single pillar, a long iron chain wrapped around his entire upper body, hands included. Even if he somehow managed to summon the Keyblade to his mouth, the chain is locked behind him, where he cannot reach. His only hope to escape lies in Quasimodo. “You can’t give up now! You’re strong, you can break those chains.”

“I can’t,” the hunchback replies bitterly, shaking his head.

“Then, then pull down the pillars! You’re so strong, Quasi, you can break…”

“What difference would it make?” Quasimodo yells back frustratedly, obviously enraged. “There’s nothing I can do. Everything I’ve tried to do for Esmeralda has only made things worse! Every decision I made since we met was the wrong one!”

“You can’t believe that!” Sora shoots back, shaking against his bonds uselessly. “You have to try…”

“Leave me alone Sora.” The words are quiet but resolute, like the stone of the cathedral around them.

“Fine Quasimodo, I will,” Sora says, tears in his eyes as he realizes just how hopeless the situation is. The Keybearer knows that it would be an easy matter for the hunchback to break down the pillars and escape. After all, they’re only made of stone.

Sora just thought his friend was made of something stronger.

Quasimodo watches silently as Frollo finishes his speech, declaring his intention to cast Esmeralda into the fiery pit where she belongs. Her earlier defiance seems to have left her, leaving only fear.

The fear only increases as Frollo puts flame to the pile of tied twigs, fire slowly spreading across the pyre. And where goes fire, so too does smoke, thick and grey and reaching up to choke the life out of Esmeralda before the flames can even touch her body.

“NO!” Quasimodo cries out in anguish, finally realizing the foolish consequences of his inaction. He can’t just sit here and do nothing while the woman he… while his _friend_ burns to death!

So the hunchback strains against his bonds, the crackling of stone pillars almost drowned out by the bells above ringing as he rocks the cathedral, every bit of strength he has put directly into his bid for freedom. Sora can only watch in amazement as Quasimodo gives one final pull, sending the pillars holding him crashing to the floor in a heap of so much rubble.

“Yes Quasimodo, you did it!” Sora cries happily, watching as the hunchback wastes no time gathering a long rope and rushing to the edge of the cathedral. “But, uh, I’m still…”

“There’s no time, I’m sorry!” Wrapping one end of his rope firmly around a protruding gargoyle, Quasimodo swings out over the square. He lands against the cathedral’s side before taking one last swing, soaring over the gathered crowd and landing at the foot of Esmeralda’s pyre.

“Alright!” Azlyn cheers, watching in delight as Quasimodo easily rips the ropes holding Esmeralda to her pole into so much thread, hefting the unconscious girl over his shoulder.

Frollo cannot believe his eyes, summoning Heartless to grab the bell ringer and end the rescue. But Quasi refuses to be deterred, grabbing the pole that Esmeralda had only moments ago been tied to, swinging its flaming end into a trio of Lance Soldiers.

Reaching out, Quasimodo grabs his rope once more, swinging up onto the walls of Notre Dame and quickly scurrying up the church’s side with Esmeralda along for the ride. The crowd cheers at the heroic display.

Reaching the balcony in front of the Rose Window, Notre Dame’s most prominent and beautiful circle of stained glass, Quasimodo raises Esmeralda over his head, looks defiantly down at Frollo below, and yells out.

“SANCTUARY!” he cries, the cheers below swelling at the evocation of holy refuge. “SANCTUARY!”

As Quasimodo retreats inside, Frollo yells out in frustration, dark violet energy swirling around him like a malevolent mist.

“To me, Heartless!” he calls, finally acknowledging that there is no righteousness in the creatures he has been using to enforce his so-called justice. “Storm the church, get the boy!”

The Heartless try to obey, surging forward towards Notre Dame, but still they cannot defeat the holy Light around the building, fed by the faith of thousands of believers. Some of the larger ones manage to get up the steps before collapsing, releasing agonizing screams before popping like soap bubbles. Frollo watches it all in frustration, his personal cloud of Darkness only growing.

Unfortunately, in Frollo’s rage he lets his fine control of the Heartless in the square, the only thing keeping the dark creatures from descending on the assembled Parisians like a buffet of hearts, slip.

Telary watches the Heartless surge, gathering power for a fire spell hot enough to melt straight through his cage. He and Azlyn rush at the crowd of Heartless, preparing to fight them off with all they’ve got.

Phoebus leaps atop the cage, turning to the embattled citizens of Paris. “See what Frollo has wrought? He has persecuted our people, ransacked our city, and now allows his dark creatures to feast on us while he declares war on Notre Dame herself! Will we allow it?”

“NO!”

The crowd rushes forward against the Heartless, using whatever makeshift weapons they can find, pitchforks and heavy hammers beating back the creatures. Azlyn and Telary lead the efforts, and as one the citizens begin to beat back the Heartless.

Frollo frustratedly ignores the chaos, marching to the cathedral. His human darkness is able to violate the protection of the temple, but the doors are locked and he alone cannot break them down.

Until a cadre of white Dusks emerge, apparently not affected in the same way as their Heartless counterparts. Not wasting a moment they attack, while still more Nobodies attempt to climb the cathedral.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora can only watch from above, still chained tight and unable to break free and call the Keyblade. Until he notices a lattice of cracks just above his head, shaken loose by Quasimodo’s escape. Concentrating, the Keybearer slams his back against the column, growing the cracks in a spider web until they cause the pillar to loose coherence completely, shattering it. From there, it’s a simple matter for Sora to shimmy out of his bonds. He summons the Keyblade, prepared to head into the square to provide his assistance.

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d _ever_ get free.”

Whirling, Sora finds the Organization XIII Nobody standing before him, arms crossed smugly. Scowling, the Keybearer drops into his combat stance.

“I wouldn’t think you’d be able to get into this place,” he says to the Nobody, venom and loathing in his voice. “The Heartless can’t.”

“There’s a difference between Darkness and Nothing,” the hooded man explains with a shrug. “I’m really not the guy to explain it, but there is.” He looks around. “Though, truth be told, this place _is_ making me feel kinda… itchy. So, let’s get this over with.”

Reaching up, the Nobody draws back his hood, unleashing a cascade of spiked red hair that falls down to his shoulder blades. For a brief moment, Sora wonders how all that hair can fit into the Nobody’s hood.

But that moment is all he gets before he concentrates on the face of the Nobody. There’s something about it, an undeniable recognition that shakes him to the core.

“You recognize me, don’t you?” the Nobody says, his voice conveying a bit of astonishment. “C’mon, man, you know who I am.”

“I’ve never seen you before in my life!” Sora replies, but shakily, unsteady. Something about this man’s face just seems so familiar, from the green eyes to the reverse teardrop tattoos underneath.

“Man, having this happen once was bad enough,” the Nobody declares, shaking his head in disappointment. “But the second time _really_ gets ya. C’mon, it’s Axel. You _know_ me, Roxas.”

Sora starts, surprised. This is after all the second time a member of Organization XIII has referred to him by his Chinese Army codename. It must be some joke, to have passed between so many Nobodies.

“Or, maybe not.” Opening his black-gloved hands, Axel summons two chakrams in bursts of flame, the spike-tipped wheels floating midair for a moment before he plucks them up. “That’s okay, I guess. Pretty soon I’ll have everything back to normal.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sora says preparing for combat once more, “but my friends are in danger right now, and you’re keeping me from helping them. And I _won’t_ let that happen!”

Axel smirks. “Well, at least you still got that same fire in ya. Speaking of…”

Without further ado, Axel hurls a chakram wreathed in flames straight towards Sora. The Keyblade rises quickly to block, and the chakram spins against its shaft for a few seconds before flying back into the waiting hand of Axel, who’s already prepared his other weapon for a charge.

Sora dives to the side to avoid a flaming strike, then turns and swings the Keyblade at his opponent. Axel deflects the blade easily and steps forward, already swinging his weapons. Sora blocks two strikes, then rolls to avoid a third.

Axel is ready for the move, tossing his chakram to intercept the boy. Sora grunts in pain and alarm when the weapon grazes his shoulder. It doesn’t penetrate the tough material of his magical jacket, but he feels the pain.

Axel moves in for a flaming uppercut next, which Sora barely dodges around, retaliating with a Keyblade swipe that hits the Nobody in his side with all the force intended. Axel lets out a cry and springs back, his face contorted in pain.

Sora is hopeful for a moment, but Axel soon straightens, a furious expression across his face. The battle is not going to end so easily.

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn throws her newly reacquired shield at a Lance Soldier, knocking it to the ground where a gypsy with a large blacksmith’s hammer pounds it into oblivion. Satisfied, she moves on to help another group of men against a Large Body.

“Azlyn, wait!”

Turning at the sound of Telary’s voice, Azlyn sees that her counterpart is frantically waving over to the cathedral, where Frollo’s Nobodies have managed to damage the cathedral door enough to allow the judge access. He’s obviously going after Quasimodo, and after a moment of apparent hesitation, the Dusks follow him.

Turning again, Azlyn can see that Phoebus more or less has the situation in hand, the citizens of Paris proving surprisingly effective Heartless eliminators. Confident that the former captain can handle things here, she turns and joins Telary in a rush to the cathedral.

They’re on the steps and about to race up when the biggest Nobody either of them have ever seen before appears. In one of its huge black hands it holds a t-shaped claymore of bronze.

“Oh, this is bad,” Azlyn says, readying herself for battle. She looks the creature over, examining it for any weaknesses. She’s not sure she sees any. “This is _really_ bad.”

The Berserker swings its sword to the ground, Azlyn and Telary barely managing to dive out of its way. Telary recovers first, going to one knee and shooting off a fire spell that crashes over the monster’s broad chest. The flames spread across its torso, but do no apparent damage.

It’s a good enough distraction for Azlyn, who aims a savage kick to the Nobody’s cylindrical leg. The girl yelps in pain as her leg hits the armor.

With its quarry at its feet, the Berserker raises its sword once again, ready to crash it down and end the knight’s life. Telary rushes the beast, but only gets knocked aside for his troubles. Landing on his back, he watches through half-closed eyes…

As a huge shadow grows around the Nobody. Looking up, Telary sees a massive stone block falling from the sky. It crashes into the Berserker, and even the bulky Nobody cannot bear its weight and force, getting crushed as the block lands with a loud crash that scatters dust everywhere.

As the dust clears, Azlyn looks up to see Quasimodo looking down on her, a proud thumbs up signaling that it was he who saved her life. After a quick second, the hunchback disappears back into the cathedral tower.

“He really saved your bacon,” Telary notes, helping his counterpart up.

“Sure did.” Azlyn rushes into the church. “And now it’s time to return the favor!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Up in the tower, Quasimodo excitedly stumbles into the room where he’s hidden Esmeralda for safekeeping. The gypsy girl lays on a makeshift bed.

“We’re doing it Esmeralda!” Quasi calls to his friend enthusiastically. “Phoebus and Azlyn and Telary are handling the square, and I’ve been taking care of those weird white thing trying to… Y’know something, you should just come out and see for yourself.” Quasimodo waits a long moment, but there’s no response from his friend. “Esmeralda?”

Concerned, Quasimodo steps into the small chamber, kneeling over the girl and carefully placing a hand on her forehead. She doesn’t respond, so he reaches for a nearby pail of water dipping a spoon in it and pouring it on her lips. The water slides off, with no reaction from the gypsy at all.

“No,” Quasi gasps, shaking his head as tears begin to fall. “No, it can’t be.” Taking Esmeralda’s limp form in his arms, the bell ringer weeps.

**KH-KH-KH**

Axel slides through the air at Sora, a wall of flames following in his wake. Sora dodges and leaps up, hurling the Keyblade and hitting the Nobody head-on. As soon as the blade is back in his hand Sora jumps, swinging for his opponent.

Axel has recovered though, and blocks each swing from the Keyblade with one of his chakrams. Sora moves back and braces his feet against a pillar, pushing off and knocking the Nobody to the ground.

Axel sits up groggily, looking up at Sora standing nearby, Keyblade pointed at his chest while its wielder eyes him angrily.

“I don’t know what kind of sick _thing_ you are, trying to mess with my head like you have,” Sora declares through clenched teeth, every word venomous and hateful. “All I know is that it doesn’t matter what you say, or how you try and confuse me, I _will_ end you. Here and now.”

Axel’s gaze narrows, returning the Keybearer’s expression of rage twofold. Sora knows the emotion isn’t real, just a copy by a heartless creature, but he feels its heat all the same.

No, actually the heat he’s feeling is very much a physical thing…

A pillar of flame explodes in front of the Keybearer, packing enough concussive force to slam him backwards into a support beam. Already damaged by all the fighting and Quasimodo’s escape, the beam collapses into rubble, one large piece knocking into Sora’s head. The boy instantly feels groggy, like everything is engulfed in a dreamy fog.

“I really hated doing that to you, Roxas,” Axel says as he rises to his feet, shaking off the damage of the battle. “But you left me no choice, and now I guess I’m gonna have to…”

“Axel!”

Sora looks around blearily, his gaze landing on another figure in an Organization XIII cloak, this one much burlier than the lithe Axel, his hood still raised.

“I wondered when you’d show up,” the unhooded Nobody says with a mocking grin. “I knew it’d be _you_ , too. Though to be honest, I’m surprised it took you so long. Of course there are a lot of stairs in this cathedral, and considering there’s no dark portal service in here…”

“Enough.” The voice of the brawny Nobody is serious, almost flat as if it cannot even be bothered to play at having emotions. It’s a bit like Xaldin, Sora thinks dimly, but distinctly different. “I have come to apprehend you for crimes against the Organization.”

“Aww, c’mon Number VII,” Axel nearly whines, like a kid upset with his strict father’s order, “I showed the old guy how to control the Heartless. I’d imagine _that_ helped your plan a ton! And on top of that, I’m even avoiding using your name in front of the kid. This is the kinda stuff that should be gettin’ me a medal, honestly!”

“That doesn’t matter,” Number VII intones. “Your interference with the boy is unacceptable. You know his use to us.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Axel sighs. “I have the plan pretty well memorized, thanks.”

“Then leave Sora alone. You only beat him with treachery anyway.”

Axel’s glare intensifies for a second, but momentarily he lets out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll take a hike, but only because you asked so nicely. I’ll tell you one thing though, no _way_ am I going anywhere with you!”

With one last look to Sora, Axel dives over the buildings side, opening a dark portal midair and dropping neatly into it.

The hooded Number VII regards Sora for a moment, then turns and walks away, leaving Sora slumped against the remains of a stone column, half-dazed and confused out of his mind.

**KH-KH-KH**

Quasimodo is still sobbing over Esmeralda when he hears Frollo enter. The hunchback doesn’t even look up from his mourning, only vaguely noting the shadow of his master against the room’s back wall.

“You _killed_ her,” Quasi accuses, even as he allows Frollo to place a gentle hand on his hunch.

“I did my duty,” Frollo replies righteously. “It was horrible, but still I did it, for I am a man of convictions. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

Quasimodo says nothing, only cries harder for Esmeralda.

“There there, dear boy.” Though his words are soothing, Frollo raises his concealed hand as he speaks, a knife waiting in it to finish off his misshapen protégé. “Your suffering will end soon, my boy. _Forever_!”

Quasimodo sees the shadow of the knife against the wall, grunts in anger and turns to block his master’s thrust, knocking the old man back against a wall. The knife is in Quasi’s hands now, and he turns to Frollo, enraged.

“Now, please listen Quasimodo…”

“No, _you_ listen to me!” the hunchback declares, throwing the knife to the floor. “All my life you told me that the world is a dark, cruel place. But it turns out that the only dark and cruel part of it is people like _you_!”

“Quasimodo,” the weakened voice of Esmeralda calls softly. Amazed, Quasimodo turns to see the gypsy girl slowly rising, obviously still not fully recovered. Gasping, the hunchback goes to her.

“No!” Frollo chokes out, Darkness rising within him once again, an aura of violet energy radiating from him. “She lives? This cannot be!”

Taking Esmeralda in his arms, Quasimodo darts for the room’s exit, barely avoiding a hurled sphere of dark fire from Frollo. After a moment to recover, the judge rises and pursues, though when he reaches the balcony he doesn’t find Quasimodo or Esmeralda.

Azlyn and Telary wait for him instead, weapons drawn.

“What’s up, Frollo?” Azlyn asks mockingly, tensed to attack. “Not so tough without the Heartless here for backup, eh?”

“This _is_ holy ground,” the judge admit with a sneer that worries Telary with its contemptuousness. “Luckily, not all Heartless need touch the ground.”

In a portal of Darkness well above the consecrated stone of Notre Dame appears a large winged creature, the Heartless emblem massive against its clear glass body. It floats on four wings, two on each side, and gazes down with three yellow eyes at the Disney Castle pair.

“Oh, that is _so_ cheap…” Before the knight can protest further, a ball of energy shoots forth from the Angel Star, which she only barely blocks with her shield, flung back by the energy’s force.

Telary hurls a ball of flame at the monster, but it seems to shrug off the magic before firing another energy orb.

His enemies distracted, Frollo resumes his search for the hunchback and the witch. He turns the nearest corner, half-expecting to find them. He remains silent when he doesn’t, creeping steadily toward the railing. Looking down, he sees Quasimodo clinging to a gargoyle, Esmeralda hiked over his shoulder.

“Leaving so soon?” Frollo mocks, hurling another orb of dark energy down at the pair. Quasi dodges it, then leaps across to another gargoyle, calling for Esmeralda to hang on as he skips away from the judge’s dark bursts.

Finally they reach a ledge, a huge statue sculpted like a lion providing anchorage enough to clamber over the side. Frollo fires dark energy, the pair only barely ducking into the statue’s shelter to avoid it. Esmeralda climbs back onto the cathedral balcony, but Quasi scales atop the lion bust.

“I should have known that you would save your life for that gypsy witch,” Frollo sneers, flicking a disgusted look to Esmeralda. “Just as your mother did for _you_ , Quasimodo.”

The hunchback’s eyes widen in shock. “What?”

Not far away Azlyn and Telary face the full might of the Angel Star, dodging energy attacks and tornadoes of light as they try to land meaningful hits of their own. It seems hopeless, the creature ignoring Azlyn’s shield attacks and almost gleefully eating Telary’s magic. Their only hope is Sora, and God only knows where he is at the moment…

“Now,” Frollo laughs, gathering Darkness, “I shall do what I should have done twenty years ago!”

Sora springs forth out of the shadows, leaping at the Angel Star and knocking it into the cathedral’s holy ground. A light flashes at the point of impact, the Heartless bounding back into the air as if burned.

The Heartless’s crash knocks Frollo and Quasimodo both off balance. Frollo falls over the rail and goes crashing into a gargoyle, barely hanging on, while Quasimodo pitches straight back. Only the quick intervention of Esmeralda saves him, but holding the much larger boy clearly strains her strength. The hunchback’s wrist begins slipping through her fingers.

Sora isn’t done with the Angel Star, leaping up and taking another swing that sends it careening backwards. It hits a wall, and once again is burned by the Light of Notre Dame. With a loud, defiant scream, the Keybearer plunges the Keyblade into its chest. It shudders weakly once, before exploding and releasing its captive heart into the air.

“Alright Sora!” Telary cheers, clapping his young friend on the back.

“What took you so long?” Azlyn asks with a rueful smirk.

“Long story,” Sora replies wearily. “But I can tell it to you later, we have to help Quasimodo!”

And Quasimodo could indeed use their help, Esmeralda rapidly losing her grip on his wrist. Not to mention the fact that Frollo has recovered, climbing up to stand on his gargoyle. Darkness streams off the man like smoke from Esmeralda’s pyre. His eyes are even yellowing, his heart taking in too much Darkness for him to remain human.

“And he shall smite the wicked,” Frollo declares, looming over the hunchback and the gypsy as the Heartless emblem slowly burns itself into his robe with purple fire, “and plunge them into the fiery pit!”

It is at that exact moment the Darkness overtakes him completely, becoming a true Heartless.

And Heartless cannot stand upon the stone of Notre Dame.

A jolt of Light knocks the former man down, and he only barely manages to wrap his arms around the gargoyle. That’s no good either, Light flooding his inhuman body. The energy is too powerful for the stone, and the gargoyle snaps off the cathedral, falling to the square below. It doesn’t make it, however, evaporating in an explosion of Darkness as Frollo is destroyed, once and for all.

Sora and company watch the entire display unfold in awe, until a cry for help from Esmeralda registers. The trio rush to her aid, but it is too late, and Quasimodo slips from her grasp, falling to the square far below.”

“No!” Sora and Esmeralda cry, reaching out uselessly for their friend.

Not so useless is Phoebus, who reaches out from the supports below, grabbing Quasimodo and arresting his fall. With a grunt, the former captain pulls his friend to safety.

Sora and Esmeralda take off immediately, Telary and Azlyn not far behind. After traversing a few staircases, the group finds Quasimodo and Phoebus.

Esmeralda rushes forward to embrace the hunchback, and he returns the hug gratefully. After a long moment he pulls away, his gaze darting between Esmeralda and Phoebus. Taking one of each of their hands in his, he pulls them together, blessing the pair’s union. As soon as Quasimodo steps aside, the soldier and the gypsy fall into a passionate embrace.

Telary is crying, wiping his eyes as the tears fall. Azlyn almost rolls her eyes at her counterpart’s display, but decides instead to fling an arm around his shoulders, resting her head against him as she observes the moment.

“C’mon,” Sora says after checking over Quasimodo a minute, “let’s go tell everyone else we’re all okay.”

When the group reaches the cathedral doors, the gloom and smoke of the pyre and Heartless attack have miraculously faded, leaving nothing but strong morning sunshine to bless the momentous occasion.

As Phoebus and Esmeralda emerge the crowd cheers, then once again when Sora, Azlyn, and Telary step out. That leaves just one more to greet, _the_ hero of the day as far as Sora is concerned.

Quasimodo is hesitant, ducking his head into the cathedral’s shadows. Esmeralda and Sora, not content to let this stand, take the hunchback by the hand and draw him slowly into the light of day.

The crowd is silent, the Parisians even now still wary of the hunchback. Not so for one small girl, who emerges from the crowd and climbs the cathedral steps towards Quasimodo. Smiling up at him, the girl wraps her arms around his neck in a grateful hug.

Telary cries again, and Sora’s eyes mist a fair amount as well.

The girl grabs Quasi’s hand and leads him into the crowd. The bell ringer beams proudly.

“Three cheers for Quasimodo!” Clopin calls out, the villagers answering his calls and hoisting Quasimodo on their shoulders, setting out in a parade worthy of a true hero.

As Sora watches, the Keyblade appears and lets off a spark from its tip. Closing his eyes, the Keybearer finds himself in the heart of the world, Big Marie the Notre Dame Bell opening the path to the next world.

“Uh, what was that exactly?” Phoebus asks, one eyebrow hitched up curiously.

Sora gives him a bittersweet smile. “Unfortunately, that means we have to be moving on.”

“I’m sure you can understand that, Esmeralda,” Azlyn tells the gypsy girl with a sly wink.

“I, and my people, are forever in your debt, Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Esmeralda earnestly tells the trio, laying a hand on each of the trio’s cheek as she says their names. “I hope that someday you find yourselves back in our city.”

“We’ll sure try, Esmeralda,” Sora says with a respectful nod. He’s sure that Kairi would _love_ to explore the cathedral of Notre Dame.

“Aren’t you gonna at least stick around, say goodbye to Quasimodo?” Phoebus asks, nodding to the hunchback, who’s still being paraded around the square.

“Y’know something,” Sora says with a fond smile, “I think I’ll just let him have his moment.”

Across the square, Quasimodo feels his heart swell with the greatest happiness he’s ever felt, finally free to walk Out There.

**KH-KH-KH**

Far from the city and world he's just fled, Axel broods, the failure of his scheme nearly overwhelming him with what he remembers to be disappointment and rage.

It had all seemed well and good, using a patsy to get him in position to snatch victory. It was a smooth plan, a low-risk plan, a _clever_ plan.

"Heh," Axel chuckles with no mirth. "It was an _Organization XIII_ plan, is what it was."

And Axel isn't with Organization XIII anymore, so why the hell should he feel obligated to act like those jerks when their style is so clearly not his? He shouldn't, as a matter of fact, and from this point on he vows not to do so. His next plan will be bigger and better, so full of cunning and subterfuge that there's no way it will fail. All he needs is a way to draw out Sora, isolate him and strike...

"At his heart," Axel says, an idea suddenly coming to him. And an awfully good one to boot. "And what, exactly, is first in Sora's heart? Or maybe I should say, _who_?"

Axel laughs once again, and this time it's full of all the mirth he can remember how to feel.


	17. Sora's Bazaar Adventure

“So the two Organization members fought each other?” Telary asks for clarification’s sake, sitting behind the controls of the Gummi ship as it follows the pathway to the next world.

“Doesn’t seem like a very _organized_ Organization,” Azlyn jokes, checking her nails idly as she lounges in her seat.

“Well, it never actually got physical,” Sora provides with a frown. “But it sure seemed like that Axel guy was doing something Number VII didn’t like.”

“Axel’s the guy who seemed to think you know him, right?” Telary says.

“Yeah.” What Sora hadn’t told his friends, however, was that on some level Sora thinks he _does_ know the mysterious Axel. But without any way to say why or how, he figures he should keep that fact to himself. Plus the way the Nobody had called him “Roxas”. All vague and confusing pieces in a very odd puzzle.

“The thing I like about Heartless is that they generally don’t talk much,” Azlyn states matter-of-factly. “Except that Ansem guy, of course. These Nobodies ya can’t get to shut up, far as I can tell.”

Sora laughs along with Telary at the knight’s callous comment, but the humor of the moment can’t quite clear out the confusion he’s feeling in his head and his heart.

**KH-KH-KH**

Morning in Agrabah is, truth be told, not all that much different from morning in Paris, just with less bells and more sand. A _lot_ more sand.

“This is amazing,” Sora says as he and his companions enter the city from where they’d teleported in. They’re in the city’s main bazaar, people milling about and visiting various vendors and merchants. It’s loud, crowded, and dozens of different smells assault the nose in a rush to claim its interest.

During the trio’s last visit a year ago, the desert city had been practically deserted, its citizens either hiding from the dark forces of the Heartless under Grand Vizier Jafar’s control, or devoured by them. Now, it seems as if all of that is a distant memory.

“It’s kind of like visiting Hollow Bastion, isn’t it?” Telary agrees, taking a moment to watch the Agrabah citizens scurry about and go on with their lives without fear of impending doom. “Makes you feel like you’ve really made a difference. Thanks to us, these people have their lives back.”

“Think we could get some kind of heroes’ discount?” Azlyn asks, eyeing a stall dripping with expensive looking jewelry. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about, like, truth and justice and stuff, but I also wouldn’t mind some financial perks while I’m at it.”

Telary rolls his eyes at his counterpart. “That’s not why we do what we do, Azlyn. We do good things because they’re right, not because…” The wizard stops his monologue, realizing that Azlyn is already gone, heading straight for the jewelry stall. He sighs, turning to Sora. When he gets there, he sees that Sora is off on his own as well, examining a fruit stall. Telary sighs again. “Don’t know _why_ I even bother.”

Sora carefully peruses the stall of exotic fruit, searching for one particular item that had managed to catch his eye even across the street. The Keybearer is eager to catch up with his old friend Aladdin and the princess of Agrabah, Jasmine, but first he needs to make sure his hunch is correct.

His heart nearly stops as he brushes past a kumquat to unearth what he’s been searching for. Sitting atop a stack of round green fruits is a yellow star with a single green leaf growing out of it.

A paopu fruit!

Meanwhile, Azlyn scrutinizes a hanging strand of pearls until a large man dressed in robes of yellow and orange approaches her from behind the counter.

“Does the lady see something she likes?” the merchant asks, pleased to have a customer. In a place like Agrabah, a fine jewelry man is hard-pressed to make many sales, and thus every one of them must be carefully dealt with.

And, of course, very expensive.

“The lady is thinking about it,” Azlyn replies, not taking her eyes off the pearls. Without asking permission, she grabs the necklace off its hook and holds it closer to her face. They seem authentic, but just to be sure she pulls out the loupe she keeps in her pocket for occasions such as these.

Spotting the small magnifying glass, the store’s proprietor blanches. He can already tell that this won’t be very good for business.

Sora, meanwhile, takes the paopu in his hands and brings it close to his face almost reverently, taking a deep whiff of the rare fruit. He has no idea how a fruit native to his home ended up all the way in Agrabah, but he’s overjoyed to finally have some real, physical manifestation of his old life, to hold and cherish and…

A red and blue streak swoops down from the sky, quickly snatching up the paopu before rising once again, taking off deeper into the city with its prize.

“What just happened?” Sora mutters to himself in disbelief, his gaze lingering on the mysterious streak’s trajectory.

“You fool!” Turning back to the stall, Sora sees the proprietor standing behind the counter, an angry look on his face that only barely comes second to the large scimitar in his hand for frightfulness. “You let that foul bird take off with some of my rarest merchandise! I was going to sell that to the sultan!”

“Well, uh, I’ve got some munny. Maybe I can pay for it!” Sora stammers nervously, reaching into his pocket for the munny pouch he always keeps with him just in case. Surprisingly, all he finds there is a slip of paper with “IOU -Azlyn” scribbled on it. Chuckling sheepishly, he turns back to the angry vendor. “Uh, on second thought…”

“Boy, do you know what the penalty is for stealing?” The merchant’s blade flashes menacingly in the streaming sunlight.

“Uh, a strongly-worded lecture and some light community service?”

The angered man begins to come around the stall, intent on teaching Sora a lesson. Watching him, the Keybearer can’t help but be conflicted as to what his next move should be. Obviously it would be easiest to just whip out the Keyblade and take him down, but he just isn’t sure that’s…

“Incoming!”

Sora turns at the sound of Azlyn’s call, just in time to notice and duck away from a man flying through the air. He manages to get out of the way, and the flying man instead crashes into Sora’s antagonistic merchant. A lucky blow, to be sure.

“Try to sell _me_ fakes, will ya?” Azlyn calls angrily, marching up to the merchant pile with a clenched fist. “How do you even _make_ fake pearls in a preindustrial society?” Turning to Sora, the girl smirks. “Talk about your customer service, huh?”

Sora opens his mouth to reply, but before he gets the chance he notices that both of the merchants are rising, angrier now than before.

“Guards!” calls the fruit stall man, attracting the attention of several turbaned officers with large scimitars at their sides. “That boy tried to steal from me!”

“And the woman attacked me!” the jewelry vendor chimes in, rubbing at the spot on his chest where he’d been struck.

The guards approach menacingly, led by a tall man with a thick black beard and thin mustache. This man makes the fruit seller look cuddly in comparison.

“Troublemakers, eh?” says the man, his sword already raised for combat. “It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to skin a street rat, you know. I just hope I’m not too out of practice.”

“Speaking of practice,” Azlyn says, grabbing Sora’s arm and slowly pulling him back a step, “how are your chase skills?”

Before the guard has any time to reply, Azlyn has turned tail and taken off, pulling Sora behind her until the Keybearer gets the hint and kicks it into gear himself. As the guards begin pursuit, Sora reaches out and pushes Azlyn’s merchant into their way, impeding them for a few seconds.

Telary, who had been just about to buy some breakfast from a man cooking meat over a grill, sighs as he watches his younger companions take off with the local authority in hot pursuit.

“I’m sorry sir,” he says to the street cook, resigned. “It looks like I’m going to have to cancel that order. Something, uh, came up.”

He doesn’t even get a _partial_ refund.

Meanwhile, Azlyn and Sora race through the backstreets of Agrabah, which only become less populated as they go, with ever less ways to distract their pursuers.

Finally, they turn in to a completely deserted alley, nothing but sand surrounded by tan stone. It goes on a few yards before opening up into the next street, but there’s a small alcove in the side as well, just barely hidden behind a waist-high stack of crates.

Nodding sharply, Azlyn leaps behind the crates and lays flat to the sandy street, Sora quickly joining her. The boy makes it not a heartbeat too soon, as the guards round the corner into the alley just as he’s settling in. Unfortunately the space is so tight and the cover so slight that he’s laying directly on top of Azlyn, pressing the knight even deeper into the sand.

The guards rush by without even pausing to examine the alley, blundering straight past the pair’s hiding place. They lie still until the sound of their pursuers’ footsteps fade, and then Sora climbs out from the stack of crates first, followed by a very sandy Azlyn.

“We lost ‘em,” Sora sighs, sitting atop the crate wall and lacing his fingers behind his head in his standard relaxation pose. Looking at Azlyn, he grimaces. “Uh, sorry about that.”

The knight shrugs, dislodging a small cloud of sand particles. “It worked, didn’t it?”

The pair exit the alley the way they’d came in, to a square area surrounded on all sides by buildings, with only a pair of spaces between to enter and exit by. A wooden scaffolding stands erect against one building, tied down crates stacked on top of it and covered in tarps to keep the harsh desert elements off.

“What was that fruit guy so pissed about?” Azlyn asks as the pair walk back to find Telary. “Did Sora, one true champion of righteous goodness in the universe, perhaps take something that wasn’t his?”

“I was just looking at it!” Sora protests huffily. “Then this, I dunno, this _thing_ swooped down from the sky and took it.” His frown deepens, focusing in on Azlyn. “Come to think of it, I _was_ going to pay the guy back, but when I reached into my pocket, I only found _this_.” Unfolding the IOU note, Sora tosses it at Azlyn, who reads it before smiling sheepishly.

“I think what we should focus on now is finding Telary,” the knight replies, turning away from her companion. “He’s probably really worried, you know how he gets.”

They begin to exit the small plaza, heading back the way they had come. But as he walks, Sora swears he can hear something behind him, and feel a displacement of air…

Turning quickly, the Keybearer spies a small red parrot with blue tail feathers, flapping backwards a few feet from fright. Something about the bird seems familiar to Sora, and in moments he figures out what it is.

“Hey, you’re the bird that took my paopu!” he accuses, too angry to feel any of the absurdity of yelling at a bird. “You got me in really big trouble!”

“More than you know, Sora,” Azlyn chimes in, one hand drifting back to her shield. “I recognize this bird. He’s Jafar’s flunkie! Uh, Iago!”

Sora summons the Keyblade to his hand upon hearing the name of the evil sorcerer that had caused havoc the last time he’d been in Agrabah.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” the parrot protests, anguish and terror mingling in his rather abrasive voice. “Hold on a minute, you’ve got me all wrong! I’m going straight now, I promise!”

“Oh yeah?” Sora shoots back in disbelief. “If that’s true, the why did you steal that paopu?”

“Oh, that,” Iago sighs sheepishly. “It’s hard out there for a parrot, ya gotta understand. So, when I saw that big juicy piece of fruit just waiting to be taken, I went for it. But, uh, I actually still have some of it, if you wanna share.”

Sora grimaces and shakes his head, the thought of entwining his destiny with this rapscallion as unappealing as an icy bath.

“What are you doing hanging around us then?” Azlyn asks suspiciously. “If I were a thief, I really doubt I’d go looking for the people I stole from again. What’s the angle, birdbrain?”

“There’s no angle, I swear!” Iago says desperately. “I’ve turned my back on the old life I used to live. No more scams, I promise!”

“That sounds like a scam to me,” Sora points out, arms crossed. “And wait a minute, weren’t you sucked into Jafar’s lamp with him?”

“I was,” the parrot confirms. “In fact, that’s what made me…”

Any further explanation from the former minion is quickly cut off by the sound of dark portals opening, depositing Heartless. Dressed like desert raiders and wielding two wicked scimitars each, seven Luna Bandits approach Sora, Azlyn, and Iago menacingly.

Iago screeches in fear and alarm, flapping his way over to the scaffolding at the other end of the area. Sora and Azlyn take the opposite route, charging head on at the Heartless. Blades and shield clash as the battle is joined.

Iago watches the battle from his coward’s perch, sees the offworlders cut the creatures of Darkness down to size even as they are replaced by new ones.

Sora struggles against a Luna Bandit with both blades pressed against his. With a grunt he pushes the creature off, following up with a horizontal slash straight through the symbol on his opponent’s chest. Looking to his left, he sees Azlyn kick back another enemy before turning and hurling her shield through the neck of one behind her.

More Luna Bandits scurry into the area, and Sora takes on a pair, blades clashing as the Keybearer is slowly driven back.

With both of the humans occupied, a pair of Luna Bandits turn their glowing yellow eyes to Iago, approaching the parrot menacingly. He naturally panics, taking wing and attempting to escape the creatures.

He dodges one swing and then another, before backpedaling through the air and accidentally knocking into one of the boxes on the scaffolding, sending it teetering back and forth on the edge.

It just so happens that Azlyn finds herself underneath, swinging her shield high and low to block the Luna Bandit’s attacks. One deflected blow cuts into the rope holding back the swaying crate. It snaps, and the large wooden cube falls to land directly atop the Heartless.

Another pair approach from behind, and Azlyn whirls to face them just as a large vase, also disturbed by Iago’s fearful flailing, knocks them to the ground as well.

Sora swipes cleanly through his current opponent’s chest, then turns to see the trio of dazed Heartless and Azlyn. Looking up, he notes Iago flying above, smirking down triumphantly at the dark monsters. Looking down again he sees the still settling dust from impact, and an idea sparks suddenly in his brain.

“Azlyn, Iago, over here!” the boy calls as even more Luna Bandits arrive from another alley. Azlyn nods and jogs over, Iago following her from above. As the pair reach Sora, Iago moves to land on Azlyn’s shoulder, earning a scorned look from the knight. “No, let him Azlyn.”

She almost protests, but by now the Heartless are closing in again, so instead Azlyn just offers up her shoulder to the parrot, who warily lands on it.

Closing his eyes for a moment to concentrate, Sora thinks back to Gummi ship downtime a year ago, Telary giving him a crash course on basic magic. Remembering the instructions for the spell he’s trying to cast now, the Keybearer calls upon the energy inside him.

“AERO!” he cries, unleashing his inner power in a column of whirling wind around him and his companions. The wind picks up the sand and dust of the Agrabah street, creating an effective smokescreen that even the Heartless’s eyes cannot penetrate. Reaching out to grab Azlyn’s wrist, Sora pulls the knight along with him to safety.

As soon as they’re clear of the miniature sandstorm, Azlyn spots a small, rundown building they can easily duck into for shelter. The trio wait for a long minute in silence, but there’s no evidence of their pursuers.

“Ugh, that was a close one,” Iago says with a sigh, leaving Azlyn’s shoulder and moving to stand atop a rotting table. “I thought we were goners for sure!”

“If you hadn’t helped out, Azlyn probably would have been,” Sora points out.

“Excuse me?” Azlyn objects indignantly.

“Well, you gave me the sandstorm idea, anyway,” Sora corrects with a shrug. “I think you’ve earned being heard out.”

“Thank you Sora, thank you!” the parrot exclaims joyously, taking flight and buzzing happily around the Keybearer. “All I wanna do is apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine, make amends for my mistakes.”

“And how exactly does that involve us?” Azlyn asks suspiciously.

“I just need you guys to put in a good word for me, y’know?” Iago clarifies. “Probably you’d like to mention that I just saved your lives.”

Sora mulls it over for a second, then shrugs amenably. “I guess we could do that.”

“But we’re only gonna tell them that you want to change, and what you did for us back there,” Azlyn interjects seriously, frowning down at the bird. “You’ll have to win over Jasmine and Aladdin yourself.”

“Oh, I will, I promise!” Iago declares. “I’ll do whatever it takes, as long as I can finally have a little bit of…”

A sudden flash of blue energy surrounds Iago, cutting him off, and when it fades the parrot is encased in a small block of ice. With the added weight of the ice and frozen wings to boot, he drops like a stone to the dusty floor.

After taking a moment to observe the frozen avian, Azlyn and Sora look up to see Telary, staff held out, entering through a jagged crack in the building’s side.

“Got him!” the wizard exclaims, twirling his staff proudly in his hand before tucking it into the holster at his belt.

Agrabah

As soon as Azlyn stops snickering at the incident, Sora launches into a quick explanation of Iago’s situation. The more he hears the farther Telary’s face falls, and once the parrot is thawed he apologizes profusely.

“Y’know,” Iago sighs, shivering as he wraps himself up in his wings, “normally I’d curse you out, or swear my everlasting revenge, but now that I’m a brand new bird, I’m just gonna let that one go.”

“Uh thanks,” Telary says sheepishly, awkwardly scratching at his arm. “So, uh, Aladdin and Jasmine? They should be at the palace, right?”

The trio and their new acquaintance make their way through the city streets, weaving between the massive crowds on their way to the golden dome-topped palace from which Jasmine’s father rules the city.

“So, if you were stuck inside the lamp with Jafar,” Telary asks Iago, his curiosity getting the better of him, “how did you manage to escape?”

“It wasn’t easy, lemme tell ya,” Iago answers, gliding through the air just slightly above Sora, his closest ally for the moment. “Especially with Jafar yelling and cursing at me the whole time. But, with a lot of squeezing I eventually got out.”

“The rules probably weren’t the same for you, since you’re not a genie,” Sora chimes in thoughtfully.

“So you just left the lamp in the desert?” Azlyn interrogates the parrot suspiciously. “You didn’t bring it to Agrabah as part of some fiendish scheme?”

“Leave a dangerous thing like that just laying around in the desert?” Iago replies incredulously. “No, I picked that thing up in my talons and dropped it straight down the nearest well on my way back to the city. I know better than to take chances like that.”

“Uh huh,” Azlyn replies, though her suspicious looks to the bird don’t stop.

The dome of the palace fills the sky now, and upon turning the next corner, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary find themselves at its gates. Unfortunately, those gates are guarded. _Double_ unfortunately, the guard recognizes Sora and Azlyn.

“Well, well, well,” the large, bearded man chuckles, surrounding the trio with three other men at his back. “This is quite a surprise. Usually street rats know better than to come around to the palace after escaping justice.”

“They sure do, Captain Razoul,” a second guard chimes in agreeably.

“Well, uh, we’re kind of new in town,” Sora replies sheepishly. Telary has done his best to separate himself from his wanted peers, and Iago cowers behind the wizard’s back. “Besides, that thing back at the market was just, y’know, a misunderstanding, really!”

“ _And_ we’re personal friends of Princess Jasmine!” Azlyn adds, glaring hatefully up at the burly guard. He doesn’t seem impressed by the statement. “So I’d move aside if I were you, pal. Because if you don’t…”

“This is all very fascinating, truly,” Razoul interrupts. “But if I were you, I’d save some of those fine negotiating skills for your trial. Restrain them!”

“Is that, uh, strictly necessary, sir?” Telary chimes in, stepping up to the captain of the guard despite his nervous trembling. “If I know my friends, then surely they will…”

“So, another rat for the pack, it seems,” Razoul says, grinning toothily at the shaking wizard. “Take this one too, men. Might as well have the whole set for the dungeons, eh?”

Within moments the entire trio is restrained, the palace guards frog marching them through the massive gate doors. A long sandy path leads to the palace’s numerous white marble steps, surrounded on all sides by a lush garden.

“Um, guys,” Sora whispers to his companions, “we’re gonna get ourselves out of this, right? Next to the Heartless, these guards are nothing.”

“No, we’re not gonna do anything,” Telary counters authoritatively. “Eventually this is gonna get back to Jasmine, and then she’ll get us out of it. Right now they don’t have much they can actually punish us for, but if we start beating up the law enforcement, then they definitely will. So just lay low.”

Sora frowns, but ultimately acquiesces. Noticing a certain quiet, the Keybearer turns to Azlyn, who against all former conventions hasn’t struggled even once. “Uh, are you okay Az? You seem weirdly, uh, calm.”

“Guess who’s missing?” the knight replies gruffly. “If you need a hint, he’s the only one of us who can fly.”

Sora lets out an indignant gasp. “Oh man, Iago ditched us! That little…”

Any unkind words the boy has for Iago are left unspoken when a familiar voice calls out from across the landscaped courtyard.

“Captain Razoul, what is the meaning of this?” demands Jasmine, princess of both Agrabah and Heart. The girl, not much older than Sora and Azlyn, marches across the garden with an affronted look on her face. She’s dressed in her usual outfit of poofy blue pants and a matching, midriff-baring top. Her long black hair falls to the middle of her back, bound up in a loose braid.

“Princess Jasmine,” the captain of the guard replies with a respectful bow of his head. “I apprehended these troublemakers outside the palace, and…”

“These people aren’t criminals, Captain,” Jasmine angrily protests. “They’re heroes! If it weren’t for them, all of Agrabah would have been swallowed by Darkness, and I would have lost my heart.”

“Uh,” Razoul mutters fumblingly, unsure of when Princess Jasmine became as eccentric as her royal father.

“I told ya we know the princess!” Azlyn gloats, tearing her arm away from the officer restraining her. Sora and Telary’s guards release them as well.

“My humblest apologies, my princess,” Razoul says, bowing once again. “I had no idea that these… _people_ were in your good graces.”

Jasmine sighs. “I suppose you were just doing your duty. You and your men may go.”

The guards leave, but not before Azlyn and Sora give Razoul mocking smirks. The big man simply scowls and walks away.

“Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Jasmine addresses the trio with a dazzling smile. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with that, Captain Razoul is often a bit… excitable.”

“The fault was ours, Your Majesty,” Telary says respectfully, bowing deeply at the waist. He looks up at his companions, and in seconds they both join him. When the wizard rises, he adds, “Well actually it was more _their_ fault, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“You know, I never really got a chance to thank you all for what you did last year,” Jasmine says, still smiling. “As I told Razoul, we’d all have been lost without you. I was just walking the gardens, would you care to join me?”

“We’d love to,” Sora replies with a smile. The group sets off on a smaller dirt path cutting through the foliage. As they go, Jasmine informs them that the fruit grown in the gardens is distributed to those in need, a program that is the brainchild of Aladdin.

“How is Aladdin, by the way?” Telary asks. Above, he hears the sound of leaves rustling. Looking up, he sees Iago perched on a branch. Azlyn notice as well, and gives the bird a firm look that Telary hopes will get him to stay put until the trio have a chance to talk with Jasmine about him.

“Oh, he’s…” Jasmine begins to reply, trailing off with a sigh. They quartet has entered a spacious stone portico with a large multilevel fountain in the middle, and Jasmine sits on its edge. “To tell the truth, he’s been acting very strange lately. Not at all like himself.”

“Could it have something to do with the Heartless?” Sora asks. “We ran into a few of them back in the city.” The Keybearer notices Iago land on the top bowl of the fountain.

“Oh, I certainly hope that doesn’t have anything to do with Aladdin,” Jasmine says with a concerned grimace. “I remember that those creatures could be quite terrifying. You say you saw some in the city?”

“Yeah, we did,” Sora answers slowly, one eye fixed on Iago, who keeps flashing his wings in a _go on_ gesture. “And, uh, funny story about that…”

“Aladdin’s been going to the city every day,” Jasmine says, mildly panicked. “If he doesn’t know about the Heartless, he could end up in a lot of trouble. Even…”

“Let’s not jump to any hasty conclusions, Jasmine,” Telary cautions the princess, his hands spread in a placating gesture. “The Heartless probably only attacked Sora because of the Keyblade.”

“Yeah, they’re kind of obsessed with me,” Sora adds, still ignoring Iago’s flapping encouragement to speak to the princess about the parrot.

“What’s Aladdin been doing in the city anyway?” Azlyn asks with a curious purse of her lips. “If I had the choice between a palace and that place, it wouldn’t even be a contest.”

Jasmine sighs again. “I’ve asked him about it several times, but he just keeps saying that nothing’s wrong. I’m just worried that…”

“Hey!” Iago suddenly decides to speak up, descending from his fountain perch to flap about in front of Jasmine. “Maybe he’s got a secret girlfriend! If you want, I could…”

“Iago!” Jasmine cries out, quickly backing away from the fluttering parrot. “He must be behind those Heartless! Quick Sora, catch him!”

“Uh, Jasmine,” Sora starts, “the thing about Iago is…”

“I’ll get the guards, tell everyone in the palace!” With that, the princes of Agrabah flees back into her palace, ignoring all attempts to call out to her in her haste.

“Nice move, Iago!” Sora admonishes the former villain, who emerges from his hiding place behind Telary’s back. “You were supposed to wait until I had a chance to bring you up!”

“Well, you were sure taking your sweet time getting there!” Iago protests huffily, landing on Telary’s shoulder and indignantly crossing his wings. “At that pace, Jasmine and Aladdin would probably have come around to me right on time for my funeral!”

“Keep pushing us like this, and I promise you that’ll come a lot sooner than you think!” Azlyn threatens, stepping closer to the indignant bird.

“Okay, everybody just relax!” Telary declares in his rare take-charge tone. “I think we’re all forgetting the real problem here. There are Heartless in Agrabah, and something’s up with Aladdin. Now, whether the two are related or not is irrelevant right now, but they are both problems.”

“We should go try and find Aladdin,” Sora suggests. “Find out what’s going on with him, have a talk. Man-to-man.” Azlyn makes a coughing _ahem_ noise. “Man-to-man-to- _Azlyn_.” Iago flaps his wings loudly. “Ugh. Man-to-man-to-Azlyn-to- _parrot_!”

**KH-KH-KH**

They search the city for nearly two hours, fighting against the hullabaloo all the while. Even with Iago’s air reconnaissance, they can’t find hide nor tail of the former street rat. Hungry from their search, the trio decide to grab some lunch while Iago does another aerial sweep of the city’s eastern neighborhoods.

“I’m beginning to see the downside of getting all these people back on the streets safely,” Azlyn notes as they wait for the man selling kebabs of skewered meat and vegetables to fill their orders. “This place is a zoo.”

“And Aladdin knows it better than any of us,” Sora agrees, taking his lunch from the cook. “Our best hope is probably to wait for Iago to find him from the air. Right, Tel?”

“Huh?” Telary starts at the mention of his name, tearing his eyes off the second kebab, which gets handed to Azlyn. Only one left, and finally he can satisfy the emptiness in his belly. “Uh, yeah Sora, you’re right.”

“This is _great_ ,” Azlyn says enthusiastically through a mouth full of half-chewed meat. “Sora, you’ve got to try this!” The Keybearer follows her advice, biting into his own treat with a look of pleasure.

Telary shakes his head and turns away, laser-focusing his eyes on his own food, which seems to have just finished grilling. He can vaguely hear some sort of commotion down the street, but all other sounds seem drowned out by sizzling meat and steaming vegetables. Finally the cook hands Telary his own kebab. Closing his eyes, the wizard brings it to his lips, ready to taste the savory…

Something lands on the wizard’s head, four paws digging into the scalp below his red hair. He yelps, swinging his head to dislodge what has landed there. There’s a high-pitched shriek, and then the pressure leaves his cranium. Before he even looks up to see what just used his head for a gymnastics vault, he checks to make sure his food is secure. Once he’s sure of that, he sees a small brown-furred monkey in a purple vest and red fez, scurrying along the busy street with a black object in its hands.

“Hey, that’s Abu!” Sora exclaims happily, his finger following the little primate as he makes his getaway. “He’s Aladdin’s best friend, so I’ll bet anything that…”

Another impact slams into Telary though this one is person-sized, hits his whole body, and sends his uneaten kebab flying through the air to land on the dusty sand ground of the city street.

“Sorry about that, Telary!” the voice of Aladdin apologizes. He keeps on running, dressed in the same ratty peasant clothes he wore last year. “Hey, Azlyn. Sora how’s it goin’? Sorry, I can’t really talk right now.”

“Come back here!” an unknown, heavily accented voice yells indignantly. Turning towards its source, the trio watch as a small man in a blue robe and white turban angrily chases after the fleeing Aladdin, who is still hot on the tail of Abu. “Stop, thief!”

“Huh,” Azlyn comments nonchalantly, setting the empty skewer of her fully-eaten kebab back on the stall’s counter. “I always forget that in our case coincidences are a lot more reliable than a search pattern.”

“We’d better check things out,” Sora declares. His skewer is still nearly half covered in food, but before Telary can reach out to ask for a bite, the Keybearer simply throws it to the ground before taking off after the strange parade. Azlyn follows closely behind him.

Iago flutters down from the sky, anxiously landing on Telary’s shoulder. “Hey, I spotted Aladdin and that monkey of his comin’ this way!”

The wizard sighs, his stomach letting out an audible gurgle. He turns to the parrot with a peeved glare. “Thanks for the heads up,” he deadpans.

When the trio catches up, Aladdin is receiving a harsh lecture from the small turbaned man. Abu still holds tight to the item in his arms, which upon closer inspection is revealed to be a small black lamp.

“If you can’t learn to control that thing, put a leash on him!” the man says cuttingly, snatching up the lamp despite Abu’s protests. With a last huff, he turns and stalks away, shouldering Sora aside.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” Aladdin tells Abu harshly, wagging a finger at the still tittering monkey. “We don’t steal anymore, Abu.”

“Why would ya need to?” Azlyn asks with a sly grin. “You’ve got one sweet gig at up at the palace.”

“Hey guys,” Aladdin greets the trio, giving Sora a friendly clap on the shoulder. “Sorry about earlier. Especially to you, Telary.”

The wizard shrugs, ignoring the pangs of hunger that still plague him. “Hey, you were in a hurry.”

“Yeah, what was that chase all about?” Sora asks.

“Oh, you know Abu,” Aladdin answers with a shrug and a fond grin. “When he gets his sights set on something, he just can’t help but go after it.”

“I know the type,” Sora says with a short nod to Azlyn, who thankfully for him doesn’t notice.

She’s too busy looking down at Abu, who chitters loudly and waves his furry arms.

“Hey now,” Aladdin warns his furry companion, “don’t go trying to talk your way out of this one, pal.” The group all share a good laugh.

“You seem pretty peppy,” Azlyn notes after finishing her laughter.

Aladdin notes her skeptic tone. “Uh, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, Jasmine said that you seemed off lately,” Sora informs the former street rat. “She seemed pretty worried, ‘cause you’re always leaving the palace. _Is_ something wrong?”

Aladdin sighs deeply and smiles sadly. “I guess if anyone was gonna figure it out, it’d be Jasmine.”

“Figure what out?” Telary asks.

“I’ll admit, I have been kinda down lately.” Aladdin runs a hand through his black hair. “It’s just that, a while ago Genie decided that he wanted to leave Agrabah for a while, go off and explore the universe. He took Carpet with him too.”

“So, you miss them,” Sora states plainly, his own heart aching to think of the friends he himself is far away from.

“Yeah,” Aladdin admits with a shrug. “And not just because I miss _them_ , but they also made thinks a lot more exciting, y’know? That’s why I’ve been coming here to this city, getting lost in all the hustle and bustle like I used to before I moved into the palace. Anything can happen here. I mean, I met you guys today!”

“Have you thought about talking to Jasmine about any of this?” Telary suggests. “You know she’d want to help, she loves you. But all of this sneaking around is getting her very worried.”

“I even heard a rumor about a secret girlfriend,” Azlyn chimes in, then frowns and cranes her neck to look behind. “Speaking of… Iago?”

The parrot in question is sitting on the sandy marketplace ground, his entire small body trembling with unmistakable fear.

“What’s _he_ doing here?” Aladdin says with unmistakable venom.

“Oh, right, that,” Sora says. “He told us he wants to turn over a new leaf, apologize for what he did last year working for…”

“Jafar!” Iago exclaims frightfully, his shivering now intense enough to kick up dust into the air. “That lamp, it was… It was Jafar’s lamp!” Nearer to the trio, Abu chitters agreeably.

“What are you talking about?” Aladdin scoffs. “There are hundreds of lamps all around the city that look exactly like that.”

“Look, there’s only one lamp like that in the whole world!” Iago insists, rising to float before the former street rat’s face. “And I’d know it anywhere, I swear! I did spend a rather long time trapped inside of it, if you remember!”

“Okay, okay,” Aladdin relents with a placating gesture. “We’ll check it out, maybe talk to that peddler.”

Aladdin leads the group to a small, rundown sandstone building with a red cloth hanging over the entryway.

“You and Abu should probably stay out here, Aladdin,” Sora cautions his friend. “I don’t think the peddler will be happy to see you after what just happened.”

“I ain’t going in there!” Iago spits in disgust. “Just being in the same room as that lamp would be too much for me to handle.” Next to the parrot, Abu chitters something that sound vaguely disbelieving, setting him off quite outrageously. “Well excuse me for handling my trauma as I see fit!”

“Just leave everything to me, guys,” Azlyn confidently assures Sora and Telary as the trio approach the shop, leaving Aladdin to deal with the bickering animals. “You don’t know this, Sora, but I am a master haggler. I never pay full price if I can help it. All we need to do is get a little… creative.”

“I don’t think it’s something she should brag about, but she’s right,” Telary agrees with a solemn nod. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more creatively cheap. Though, maybe this peddler guy will just let us have the lamp, if we explain the situation.”

“Uh huh,” Sora says with an eye roll.

“Whatever you say, Tel,” Azlyn adds facetiously. “Just follow my lead, will ya? Like I said, I know all the tricks.”

The inside of the building is by and large even more rundown than the outside, the only discernable merchandise a barrel overflowing with useless junk. The peddler stands behind a U-shaped counter at the back of the shop. He’s just about to rub a bit of dirt off his merchandise when the trio enter, and he looks up with a salesman’s overzealous smile.

“Ah, a good afternoon to you, my friends!” the shopkeeper greets them, setting the lamp down on the counter. “What brings you here on this fine day?”

Sora opens his mouth to speak, but before he can Azlyn takes over negotiations.

“We’re just here for a little looksee,” Azlyn answers in a ridiculously twangy accent. She quickly reaches out and takes Telary’s right arm in both of hers. “This is my husband, Telary...” Freeing one arm, she reaches out to ruffle Sora’s hair. “And my simpleton brother, Sora. We’re visiting from out of town, and we wanted to find a curio for to take home to our kinfolk.”

“I see,” the peddler says, his smile becoming slyer, more predatory. Azlyn takes note. “Well, I would be most glad to assist you in finding something to your, erm, _kinfolk_ ’s liking. If you have any questions…”

“We’ll take that lamp!” Sora declares with no attempt at an accent. Within seconds Azlyn has snapped out a kick to the boy’s shin. “Ow!”

“Oh, so sorry darlin’!” the knight mock-apologizes, placing a hand over her heart and looking regretfully at the shopkeeper. “Darn this spastic knee joint of mine. It is always causin’ no end of trouble.” She turns to the clearly uncomfortable Telary. “Right, honey?”

Unsure if he can replicate Azlyn’s accent, the wizard just mumbles and nods.

“If you are interested in the lamp, I’d be willing to part with it for, say, seven hundred munny?” the shopkeeper suggests with a shrug.

“Well, while I suppose it _is_ a fine lamp,” Azlyn says, letting go of Telary’s arm and stepping up to the counter, placing both hands flat on the wooden surface, “seven hundred munny seems just a _tad_ bit steep, dontcha reckon?”

“Yeah, it’s all dirty!” Sora points out.

“Well, if that concerns you,” the peddler offers, reaching out his sleeve, “I need only a moment to wipe it down…”

“No!” Telary blurts, in his haste forgetting his accent. Realizing his mistake, he attempts to forge on ahead. Unfortunately, _his_ falsified accent sounds more like that of the inhabitants of Port Royal. “The dirt is part of what gives the piece its, uh, inherently Agrabahian charm, as it were. The dirt must stay, I insist!”

“Well, if that is what you would prefer,” the peddler replies genially. “One thousand munny, if you’d please.”

“One thousand?” Azlyn almost snorts, shaking her head in disbelief. “Please, it wasn’t even worth the seven hundred you offered at first. Five hundred, probably, though I think even getting market value on it is unlikely. Probably more like, two hundred, in this secondhand condition.”

“That accent of yours certainly seems to come and go, madam,” the peddler points out with a wary eyebrow-raise.

“Yeah, _sis_ ,” Sora teases his friend. Another “knee spasm” hits the Keybearer on his other shin, and he stumbles back with a pained yelp.

“Well with all this travelin’, what can you expect?” Azlyn attempts to cover with a shrug. “It has been so long since…”

“I hope you do not think me a fool, my dear, but you may drop the act,” the shopkeeper deadpans. “You’re hardly the first to pull the ‘idiot tourist’ gambit with me. Though I will say, yours was the most amusing I’ve seen in quite some time.”

“It is one of the riskier grifts,” Azlyn sighs in defeat. “But what I said about that lamp is still true. Three hundred, and that’s a generous offer.”

“If you consider such a sum generous, then I hope that you do not donate to many charitable causes, miss. I said one thousand, and I meant it. I could have done seven hundred, but I am not quite so, aha, _generous_ to those who think they can fool me.”

“Oh, like you’re Mr. Honest Achmed! I bet you pull more scams before breakfast than I have my whole life!”

“In a city like this, making a living is such a hardship. Especially in present circumstances. Do you have any idea what an attack by vicious heart-devouring monsters _does_ to an economy?”

Azlyn snorts. “Oh yeah, my heart bleeds buddy! Y’know something, I don’t think I even _want_ your stupid lamp anymore!”

“Well _I_ do!” Sora protests, from safely out of kicking range.

“Sora!”

“You’ve gotta quit playing around here, Azlyn,” the Keybearer lectures his friend. “Who cares about how much you have to pay, we can probably just use some of the sultan’s treasure.”

“Treasure, you say?” the peddler inquires perkily. “The _sultan’s_ treasure?”

“Yes indeed!” Azlyn replies with a smile. “You see, we’re pretty tight with the princess, Jasmine. All it’ll take is one word and _pow_! All the gold you could want.”

“Are you sure I cannot interest you in another fine lamp?”

“No, that’s the one we need,” Telary sighs, already sensing the arrival of an underhanded sales tactic. “Please sir, this really is very important.”

“In that case, perhaps I could be persuaded to part with it,” the peddler says. Telary and Sora lean forward anticipatorily, smiling. “ _If_ you bring me a treasure beyond even _my_ wildest imaginings. Something, say, fit for a sultan?”

The smiles drop off the boys’ faces, and Azlyn’s scowl only deepens. It’s clear that nothing less than the aforementioned treasure will do, and so the trio trudge back out into the street. Aladdin is waiting for them there with a stern look.

“So, I take it you heard that little performance?” Telary asks the obviously irate former street rat.

“Oh, what’s the big deal?” Azlyn scoffs. “It’s not like we were lying in there.”

“Once we dropped the accents of course,” Sora teases the girl.

“Oh, I am _so_ not taking lip from the guy who mentioned the sultan in the first place,” Azlyn shoots back with a harsh glare. “But, like I was saying, we can just ask Jasmine to…”

“We’re not doing that,” Aladdin interrupts with a tone of definitive finality. “There’s no way I could ask Jasmine or the sultan for munny or treasure.”

“You wouldn’t want them to get worried,” Sora completes with a sympathetic nod. “I understand, Aladdin.”

“Well if we want that lamp, we’re gonna need some serious shiny,” Azlyn reminds everyone huffily. “And I suggest we get a move on, because the second that guy rubs the lamp, it’s over.”

“Oh, oh, I have an idea!” Iago blurts suddenly, flying between Telary and Sora to float in the middle of the group. “What about all that treasure in the Cave of Wonders, eh? There was loads of stuff down there, better than anything the sultan could have. I’m sure we could find somethin’ easy!”

“Didn’t the Cave of Wonders collapse once Sora sealed the Keyhole?” Telary points out. “I pretty clearly remember a lot of rocks falling at our heads.”

“I’ve actually heard a few rumors about it from passing caravans,” Aladdin informs the group. “Apparently it’s back.”

“I’m always up for a trip to a treasure-filled cave,” Azlyn chimes in cheerily. “Maybe this time I’ll actually be able to haul out some loot. If it weren’t for that carpet…”

“Oh, I just thought of something,” Sora interrupts, frowning. “Carpet was the one who flew us out to the cave, and it wasn’t exactly a short trip on him. There’s no way we could walk all the way to the cave and back before the peddler finds out what’s in that lamp.”

There’s a few long moments of silence before Telary raises his hand cautiously. “Maybe we could do what we did in Port Royal. Use the teleporter to move from one location to another. All we’d need are the cave’s geographical coordinates.”

“Oh, I know those!” Iago volunteers, actually sounding genuinely pleased to be helpful. “Jafar made me study maps for hours until I had them memorized. I can get you there no problem!”

“Alright, Iago,” Aladdin says to the parrot, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “It’s going out on a limb, but I’m gonna go ahead and trust you to get us there.”

“Does this mean you accept my apology?” Iago asks eagerly.

“Uh, I don’t think he ever _did_ apologize,” Sora whispers to Azlyn, who only shrugs in reply.

Aladdin shakes his head, and the bird loses a few feet in altitude. “But,” the former street rat clarifies, “if this is all on the up and up, I might consider hearing you out.”

“Oh, you can count on me Al!” Iago assures the young man, his head bowed almost obsequiously. “There’ll be no funny business, I promise you!”

**KH-KH-KH**

The Cave of Wonders looms over the newly arrived group, the fearsome face of a huge tiger made completely of dark sand just the same as they remember it. The mouth of the great beast remains open, casting orange and red light onto the sands.

Despite it still being daytime, dark clouds hover in the sky to block out the sun, leaving the two miles of desert surrounding the cave looking like it’s the middle of the night.

“Still as creepy as I remember,” Azlyn comments, feigning nonchalance to deflect her natural urge to run away screaming. “Do you think it’s gonna talk to us again?”

“I don’t see why it should,” Telary says, his nerves in no way hidden. “After all, with the Keyhole sealed and the lamp gone, all that’s left is just a bunch of gold and jewels.”

“Good enough for me!” Azlyn declares, taking off towards the cave at a steady sprint.

She doesn’t get far before a squadron of Heartless appear, Luna Bandits popping out of the sand while small Red Nocturnes teleport into the air.

“Uh, Sora,” Aladdin says beside the Keybearer, an unmistakable nervous edge to his words, “these are the same guys who basically cleared Agrabah out last year, right?”

“Yep,” Sora replies, Keyblade already in hand. “Nothing we can’t handle though, right?”

“Speak for yourself, Spike!” Iago yells, darting through the air to take cover behind a sand dune. Abu joins him, screeching as he rushes across the sandy ground.

Sora and Aladdin charge in the opposite direction, rushing straight into the fray. Sora quickly takes out a Luna Bandit with a single swing, and Aladdin knocks another to the ground with a hard punch. A little ways ahead, Azlyn beats back a few creatures with her shield, while Telary contributes magical muscle to the battle.

Then the Fortunetellers appear, swooping out of the air riding on freezing spheres of ice energy, their humanoid figures swathed in purple robes. One of them takes a swing at Azlyn, and she barely dodges. A Keyblade slash through the middle fells the dark creature, sending it scattering into dark particles in the air.

Aladdin reaches up to pull down a Nocturne, setting Telary up with a perfect shot. The wizard prepares a Blizzara spell that hits dead on, the cold energy ricocheting out to hit several more of the creatures.

Struck by a sudden idea, Azlyn pivots as a Fortuneteller thrusts its ball of ice at her, deflecting it and sending the sphere into the back of a Luna Bandit. It bounces off, freezing the Heartless at the point of contact, then hits another with the same effect, ricocheting off another before it returns to Azlyn. She knocks the blast into the ground and dives at the defenseless Fortuneteller, slashing it easily in half.

The field is clear, and everyone regroups as Iago and Abu emerge to meet the humans.

“I really hate those things,” Aladdin notes with a disapproving frown.

“Well, except they are kind of what brought you and Jasmine together,” Telary notes thoughtfully. Everyone glares at him for the statement, but he merely shrugs and says, “Well, it’s true.”

“Hey, you really could say the same thing about me!” Iago declares with a bright smile, sitting perched on Azlyn’s shoulder. “Apology nothin’, you should be thanking me!”

The group glare directed at Iago makes the one Telary received seem tepid, so the bird just chuckles sheepishly and shuts his beak.

“They were waiting for us,” Sora says definitively, his face set in determination. “This wasn’t just a random attack, I can feel it.”

“Like they were guarding the cave?” Azlyn clarifies. “Well, that can mean only one thing: Pete’s in that cave.”

“What’s he doing down there?” Sora asks. “There’s no lamp, the Keyhole’s sealed… How could he use the cave for Maleficent’s scheme?”

“Unless he’s after the treasure,” Azlyn notes. “And if he is…”

“Uh, who’s Pete?” Aladdin asks.

“Bad guy,” Sora explains simply. “He’s actually not that important, so let’s go. If we run into him, we can take care of him easy.”

They walk up to the imposing (literal) mouth of the cave, for the most part not bothered. After all, it’s nothing they haven’t all done before.

The throat of the tiger opens to a stone landing, the top of a long staircase leading down below. Aladdin (with Abu perched on his shoulder) takes the lead, then Sora and Azlyn follow, and Telary brings up the rear with Iago. There’s no need for torches, as all the illumination the crew could want is provided by some unknown source deeper in the cave.

The descent goes on for a long time, minutes passing as the group travel further and further belowground. Too many minutes.

“Okay, this thing is going on forever!” Azlyn complains, gesturing downward where the stairway curves around a corner that never seems to get closer. “And I mean that literally. There weren’t this many stairs last time!”

“But the cave changes every time you visit it, right?” Sora asks, recalling a comment from Aladdin to that effect last year.

“As far as I know,” Aladdin confirms, Abu offering his own squeaky opinion. “When I came here alone for the lamp, it was laid out totally different from when we found the Keyhole.”

“Now I remember,” Telary says with an enlightened snap of his fingers. “I think it’s a kind of transmogrification spell, and a really big one too. Makes sure things aren’t easier the second time around. Well, as long as we’re all careful, I figure… Aaagh!”

“Telary!” Azlyn calls out as the wizard trips and falls, tumbling head over feet down the staircase. The rest of the group can only watch helplessly as the redhead thumps downwards before turning the corner, the echoes of his fall and scream continuing to bounce around the tight space.

For a long moment everyone just freezes, unsure of what to do. After getting his bearings, Sora opens his mouth to say something, only to stop as the sounds of Telary’s fall begin to change. Oddly, they sound closer now, and almost like they’re coming from…

It’s only with quick reflexes that Azlyn is able to leap out of the way of the falling Telary, for a split second catching a glimpse of her counterpart’s terrified expression before he continues his way down and around the corner. Immediately, everyone swivels their gazes to watch Telary fall from above, through the middle of the group, then back down.

It probably doesn’t say good things about anyone present that they numbly watch this happen three more times before anyone even tries to come up with a plan. It says even worse things about Sora that he can’t help but giggle a bit at the spectacle.

“So, some kind of endless staircase thing?” Azlyn posits, not taking her eyes off of Telary as he rounds the bend below. “We just keep walking…” Pause to watch Telary roll through the middle of the group, still terrified but no longer possessing the energy to scream. “…Or falling, I guess, forever?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Sora says, only barely able to ignore Telary coming back in from above. “Otherwise we’d have run into Pete right now. There’s gotta be a way out of it.”

“Well of course there is,” Azlyn shoots back with a scoff. “You wouldn’t build a big temple-cave thingy that nobody could _ever_ get back out of. Unless they triggered the hidden booby trap, I guess.”

“Well, there was nothing we touched on the way down here that could have done anything,” Aladdin says over the sound of Telary making another go at helpless screaming. “So whatever’s happening is just because we entered the cave.”

“Anyway, the how and why of it really aren’t that important,” Iago interrupts impatiently. “Just that we get outta here. And if there’s a spell at work…”

“We’re gonna need Telary’s help,” Azlyn finishes.

“Thaaaaaaat’s riiiiiiiiight!” Telary agrees on his way down again. “Sooooo heeeeeeeeeeeelp!”

Sora takes a deep breath and steps to the center of the staircase, summoning the Keyblade in his hand. The boy is plenty proficient with many spells thanks to Telary’s tutelage, but he find it helps immensely to have the Keyblade in hand while he makes any mystical attempt.

Gathering the power in his core as Telary taught him, Sora casts the spell. “REFLECT!”

A honeycombed barrier appears in front of the boy, just in time for Telary to slam into it back-first. The nature of the spell feeds back the energy exerted onto the shield, sending Telary flying up several steps before his momentum finally stops.

Azlyn rushes to her counterpart’s side first, helping the wizard slowly sit up. He looks at her woozily and smiles dumbly.

“Hey, Tel,” the knight says in her gentlest voice. Behind her, Sora and Aladdin wave meekly. “That was some trip, huh? You feeling okay?”

“Ugh,” Telary gurgles, falling back. He raises a hand to put over his eyes, but misses completely and ends up placing it on his throat. Gingerly, Azlyn reaches out and drapes it over its intended spot. “Third pouch on belt, purple vial. Panacea.”

Working quickly, Azlyn takes out the small vial of purple liquid and unplugs the stopper. Holding Telary’s mouth open, she pours the panacea inside him. A momentary glow surrounds the wizard, and by the time it fades he can sit up, though he still seems off-kilter.

“Are you fine now, buddy?” Sora asks with concern.

Telary woozily nods. “Yeah, I’m okay. The panacea helps remove ailments, curses enemies can place on you. Works wonders for dizziness too, I guess.” Telary stands, Azlyn helping him balance. “Anyway, I thought about it during my tumble, and I think I know how to get rid of our ‘endless staircase’ problem. Sora will have to do the spell, but...”

“No problem, Tel,” the Keybearer assures his older friend. “Already got my Keyblade out.”

“Good.”

After a minute of explanation, Sora feels ready to perform the necessary enchantment. Closing his eyes and gripping his weapon’s hilt in both hands, he slowly raises the tip of the Keyblade to the ceiling.

“Dispel!” he calls out, the word echoing up and down the staircase. A small sphere of light hovers momentarily above the Keyblade before expanding over everyone’s field of vision. When the light fades, the illusion is broken and the relatively short path leading straight downward is revealed. All told, it’s about ten feet.

“Not so bad after all,” Aladdin chuckles, failing to meaningfully lighten the mood.

“Are you, uh, gonna be okay Tel?” Azlyn asks her counterpart, the close proximity doing odd, unexpected things to her pulse. “Can you make it down?”

“I’ll need some help,” Telary admits, reaching out his arm for Sora. “Come here, Sora, help your buddy out.”

Grinning ear to ear at his friend’s slowly restoring spirits, Sora takes a pair of steps up to the wizard, totally unprepared to get shoved hard down the staircase. Everyone but Telary gasps as the Keybearer takes a completely undignified tumble to the ground below.

“Telary!” Azlyn admonishes the redhead, though something in her is rather proud as well. An aggressive Telary is, in fact, a more attractive Telary.

“I’ll heal him when I get down there,” the wizard replies with a shrug. “What happened to me was not very funny, and I didn’t appreciate him laughing about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Azlyn watches him go, biting her lip and grinning. Of course the wizard cures Sora and helps him to his feet once again, sternly lecturing him on laughter at the expense of others. With that said, the group continues into the cave, unsure of what challenges it may hold.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” Azlyn scoffs, folding her arms imperiously and giving the two-headed statue before the group an angry look. Two paths lead off from the crossroads they find themselves at.

“It does seem kind of cliché,” Telary agrees with considerably less venom. “The old ‘one always lies, one always tells the truth’ gambit. I expected a lot more than this.”

“Are you kidding?” says one head indignantly. “Cliché? If anything, this is a classic! You don’t mess with the classics! And, incidentally, you should go right.”

“What do you think, other head?” Sora asks the, well, the other head.

“Left is the way to go,” the 2nd head states plainly. “And really, they have a point. This kind of test is pretty played out. Left is the way, for sure.”

“Which one of those was a lie?” Iago wonders aloud, confused.

“They were actually more statements of opinion than anything,” Telary notes with a sigh. “We have to ask the right question though, and I’ll bet it’s gonna be a slog…”

“What’s two plus two?” Aladdin asks suddenly. Stricken looks appear on both statue heads.

“Uh, I can’t do math!” the left path head whines. “There’s not a lot of arithmetic lessons involved with the whole guardian statue gig.”

“Four,” the right path head sighs, as if letting go of his answer is a terrible burden. “Damn, they usually take a little longer.”

“Please,” argues Left Path, “that was the longest anyone has ever taken to solve the test. An eternity, basically.”

“You’re such a liar.”

“No, _you’re_ the liar! The last guy to come through here did it in no time at all.”

“What last guy?” Sora interrupts, both heads swiveling to look at him.

“There was no last guy,” Lying Head says imperiously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“There was, in fact,” Truth Head confirms with an annoyed look at his companion. “Big guy, weird ears.”

“Pete,” Azlyn hisses, slamming a fist into her open palm. “If he thinks he’s getting that reassure, he’s got another thing coming! Come on, boys!”

“Uh, thank you for your time,” Telary says politely to the two-headed statue as Azlyn leads the charge down the left path.

After the wizard is gone, Lying Head turns to his other half. “They seemed like nice people. I liked them a lot.”

“I hate you,” Truth says with a huff, turning away haughtily. “And that’s no lie!”

The small stone passage winds through several twists and turns before, just around an upcoming bend, Azlyn spots a faintly golden glow. Smiling, the knight rushes towards the light, already imagining the treasure that awaits.

She is not disappointed.

The cavern is immense, stretching back so far that Azlyn cannot even see the other side. Piled all around are mounds of treasure taller than most Agrabah buildings, gold and jewels and all manner of fine metals waiting tantalizingly. Paths of blue stone wind around the piles, plenty of small coins and exquisitely cut gems spilling out onto them.

“Oh man, it’s even better than I remembered!” Azlyn exclaims as the rest of the group follows her into the chamber. Actual tears are falling from the girl’s eye as she reaches into a pouch and unfolds an honest-to-goodness canvas bag with a ‘$’ symbol emblazoned on it in green. Stifling a happy sob, she runs off to the nearest pile.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Aladdin concernedly asks Telary out of the corner of his mouth, watching as Azlyn throws a handful of gold coins into the air.

“As long as nobody tries to interfere, I think we should be okay,” Telary assures his friend. “Now, I guess it’s up to the five of us too…”

Abu and Iago rush off, by land and air, to make their own explorations of the high-stacked mounds of gold, silver, and gemstone.

“Three of us,” Sora sighs, stepping into the chamber and looking around for anything that might be extra-special enough for the peddler. Aladdin and Telary follow, all with their eyes peeled.

On a mound farther far away, Azlyn hunts through the uninspiring pile of golden coins and gemstones, searching for something truly unique, and therefore infinitely more valuable. Her sack, regrettably the only one she was assured of being able to carry back out of the cave, is almost full of such things, and just barely has room enough for a single ultra-rare item.

Something gleams as she shifts a few coins aside, and for a moment she dismisses it as another random gemstone. But, taking a closer look, she can see that there’s something about this object that’s drawing her to it.

It’s a large, egg-shaped stone of red rock as big as the knight’s fist, glowing from its center as if there’s something at its heart giving off its own light. Grinning pleasantly to herself, Azlyn reaches down to pick it up.

Only to be thwarted by Abu, who pops out of seemingly nowhere, scattering a few coins around as his torso emerges from the pile. Azlyn shrieks and rears back, giving the monkey ample time to reach out and wrap his little arms around the red stone.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Azlyn roars, rearing back and clenching a fist. “I saw it first, I have dibs! And if you think I’m gonna let another stupid little monkey ruin my day…”

There’s a loud squawk from above, as Iago darts through the air to hover before Azlyn, flapping his wings in her face.

“Remember the deal, monkey!” Iago calls down to his fellow animal companion. “You get the best treasure, I get a good word from you to Street Rat.”

“Hey, what about _my_ good word?” Azlyn protests between attempts to smack the sneaky parrot out of the air.

“The monkey’s Al’s best friend, sad as that is,” Iago clarifies, darting to one side to avoid an open-handed smack. “His word holds a lot more water than yours. Aargh!”

Azlyn succeeds in landing a hit, smacking Iago down to the pile where he lands sprawling, dazed and confused. Satisfied that her main barrier to success is removed, Azlyn lunges for the fleeing Abu, just barely managing to wrap a hand around his tail.

Abu screeches and dives to the side, forcing Azlyn to scamper along after him on her knees. She hits a loose gem as she moves, shifting it and hurtling herself the opposite direction, her momentum great enough to send her, and Abu, rolling down the side of the golden heap.

They flail and screech, and about halfway down Azlyn finds herself colliding with something soft that lets out a deep bellow as she hits it, taking it down the pile with her and the monkey.

Bouncing down a mound of very solid objects, Azlyn begins to feel terrible for not helping Telary immediately on the stairs. Even with whatever soft thing (that is still making periodic grunting, _oof_ noises) to break her fall on several ounces, the experience is singularly unpleasant.

Finally, the rolling party reaches the heap’s base, bumping to a painful stop on the stone floor. Her head spinning, Azlyn falls flat on her back and lets out a relieved sigh.

It takes a moment for the knight to gather her wits, and she slowly manages to rise to a sitting position once more. Just a few feet away, another large figure does the same, almost perfectly mirroring her movements.

“That was some fall, huh?” Azlyn says to the person across from her with a sly grin.

“I’ll say,” Pete agrees with an amiable nod. “Nearly scared the lunch outta me! You doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. How about you?”

“Nothing a little R&R can’t fix.”

“Good.”

Suddenly realizing just who they are conversing with, the knight and the minion let out twin yells of shock, scrambling back several feet.

“I figured I’d be seeing you around here,” Azlyn snarls as she takes a knee, her shield already out and ready for battle.

“Did all the Heartless guarding the entrance give it away?” Pete asks with a chuckle, rising to his full height.

“Actually it was because one of those talking statues mentioned a ‘fat idiot’,” the knight replies with a sardonic smile. “Actually, that was how we figured out which one could only tell the truth!”

Pete scowls and reaches into a pouch for a small red bomb, but Azlyn reacts quicker, reaching out to pluck up the glowing red stone still laying by Abu and hurling it into her opponent’s chest. Maleficent’s minion cries out and stumbles back, clutching his chest where he’d been hit.

Grabbing Abu and her treasure sack, Azlyn rushes off to find the others. The sounds of Heartless portals opening follows her down the path.

Sora, Telary, and Aladdin follow the winding stone paths between the treasure piles, always on the lookout for anything that might be rare enough to really hold the peddler’s interest.

“Do you guys hear that?” Sora asks, unable to ignore a succession of loud crashing noises interlaced with vocal outbursts.

Telary nods, but shrugs. “It’s probably just Azlyn, getting into trouble like she always is.”

“No doubt Abu and Iago are helping her out on that score,” Aladdin agrees with a knowing grin.

The trio laugh as they round a corner, but the sight that greets them shuts off their mirth completely. Sitting in front of them on a raised pedestal sits a golden trophy, gems embedded in its body. Two curved arms extend from the main column like arms on a candelabra, and on each sits a red ruby as big as a man’s fist. Truly it is a treasure fit for a sultan.

“All right!” Sora exclaims happily, reaching out to pluck the treasure off its pedestal. “I think we got what we came here for! And with the minimum amount of trouble, too!”

It’s of course at that moment that a screaming Azlyn, Iago, and Abu round the corner, all three looking frightened.

“Well, I found Pete!” Azlyn declares, throwing a glance over her shoulder. “And he brought plenty of…”

At that moment, at least a dozen Luna Bandits round the corner, a pair of Fat Bandits backing them up. Standing between the Fat Bandits is Pete, hands on his hips and gloating expression on his face.

“Well, fancy meetin’ you all here!” the fat cat chuckles, his belly shaking.

“Pete!” Sora yells threateningly, handing the golden trophy to Aladdin and summoning the Keyblade in a determined grip. “What’re _you_ doing here?”

“Well, I was just…”

“There’s no way you’re using this treasure to buy Jafar’s lamp from that peddler!” Iago declares boldly.

“Iago!” Telary whispers admonishingly as a thoughtful look winds its way across Pete’s face.

“Lamp?” Maleficent’s minion says dumbly. “I didn’t know nothin’ about no lamp! I just came down here to nab some cash!”

“So your being here has nothing to do with Jafar’s lamp?” Iago asks, miffed. “And the all-powerful, insanely evil genie inside that could grant any three wishes your heart desires?”

“Uh, no,” Pete replies dumbly. A sly smile spreads across his lips. “At least, not until now!”

“Way to go, Iago!” Aladdin admonishes the increasingly sheepish parrot.

“You know what to do, Heartless!” Pete orders his creatures, a dark portal appearing behind him with a wave of his hand. “Thanks for the tip, Feathers. Have you ever considered a career in evil sidekicking?”

Iago groans. “Not interested, Tubby.”

Pete just shrugs, backing into his portal. “Suit yourself!”

The Heartless approach the clustered group of heroes, their backs at a wall with nowhere to turn to. Worse odds have been overcome by all of them before, but where the Heartless are concerned, all it takes is one unfortunate mistake to end a life.

“Can you teleport us out of here, Telary?” Sora asks, crouched in a battle stance. “We need to catch Pete before he can rub that lamp.”

“Not with all these Heartless around,” the wizard says apologetically. “Their Darkness is blocking the signature.”

“We can take ‘em!” Aladdin encourages,

“Yeah, you can take ‘em!” Iago agree, his support a bit undercut by his immediate move to cower behind Azlyn.

“I’ve got an idea,” Sora says, reaching out one hand towards Telary. Cautiously, the wizard grabs it.

Sora reaches inside himself once again, recalling all of the memories he’s made with Telary, the bond they share, how their personalities and abilities work together. A sphere of light flashes around the pair, and when it fades they stand combined.

Stand is actually not quite the right word, as Sora hovers slightly above the ground, born aloft by tiny blue particles of magical energy. His outfit has gone blue, cerulean flames decorating the sleeves of his jacket and the legs of his shorts.

“Whoa,” Sora declares, twirling the Kingdom Key once in his hand. The flames on his clothes seem appropriate, as inside the boy burns a reservoir of magical energy he has never possessed before.

He raises the Keyblade, calling down a deluge of thunderbolts that the Heartless stand no chance against, eliminating a swathe of Luna Bandits within moments.

Sora glides forward, holding out his Keyblade and firing bolts of blue energy from the tip, cutting into Heartless and leaving hollow pits even in the Fat Bandits.

A pair of Fortunetellers rise up over a pile of treasure and make immediately for the group. Sora isn’t worried, calling upon a fire spell and leaping up to meet his enemies, burning through them with ease.

He lands and unleashes another lightning barrage, zapping the remaining enemies into particles, a cloud of tiny crystalline hearts rising into the air above him.

With the cavern empty of dark forces, Sora wills himself to separate. There’s a quick flash, and suddenly Telary has returned once more.

The wizard shakes his head to clear it. “Wow! That was… Wow!”

Aladdin shakes his head as well, though slower and with an air of amusement. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you Sora.”

The Keybearer shrugs. “You know it!”

“Sorry about opening my big mouth about the lamp, guys,” Iago says sadly, letting out a dejected sigh as he hangs his head.

“We know you didn’t mean to, Iago,” Telary says compassionately, already fiddling with the teleporter controls. “We can forgive the occasional bout of eager stupidity.”

“Yeah,” Sora agrees. “I mean, we still hang around with Azlyn, right?”

“Ya know what…” Azlyn begins threateningly, the rest of the words lost in the flash of teleportation.

**KH-KH-KH**

They arrive back in the peddler’s shop, only to find it empty of everything but the junk trying to pass itself off as merchandise.

“Well, he’s not here,” Sora declares with a frown. “It’s not like he could just hide anywhere in this tiny place.”

“Going back on our deal, eh?” Azlyn says angrily, fists clenched. The group exits the tiny shop, heading back onto the crowded streets.

“Well now how are we supposed to find him?” Iago whines.

As fate would have it, a great commotion arises down the street. Turning to its source, the group sees the peddler standing in the midst of a crowd, clinging tightly to the black lamp in his trembling hands. Above him looms Pete, his posture menacing.

“Hand it over, pipsqueak!” Pete roars. “That lamp is my ticket to Maleficent’s respect!”

“Well, it’s _my_ ticket to a payday!” the peddler shoots back, eyes narrowing at the fat cat. “I’m trading this for treasure beyond my wildest dreams!”

“Oh no you ain’t!” Pete lunges for the peddler, but the tiny man easily dodges, rushing off down the street, the opposite direction from Sora and company. Pete recovers quickly, bellowing a challenge and chasing after the small merchant.

“Why is it we have to do the most running on the hottest world?” Azlyn sighs as the group begins to follow the Pete/peddler chase down the street.

Iago flies above the streets, occasionally shouting down directions for his allies to follow. The pursuit winds its way all throughout the Agrabah streets, but in no time it is clear that it is all headed for the palace.

Sora rounds a corner just in time to see Razoul bellow a command for the fleeing peddler to stop, one hand threateningly on his sword. The smaller man pays it no heed, darting between the guard’s legs. Razoul bends over to watch him go, and when he straightens up again he finds himself on the receiving end of a Pete stiff arm.

Azlyn takes the lead as the heroes come up on the guard, “accidentally” knocking the guard down as she rushes past him and through the slightly open palace gates.

Any confusion about directions is quickly dispelled as Azlyn spots a line of parted and crushed bushes, flowers, and grass.

The game seems to end in the fountain area, as Pete finally catches up to the peddler and plucks the black lamp from his hand. The merchant jumps up in an attempt to catch it, but misses by a mile as Pete laughs triumphantly.

“Mine now, thank you very much!” Pete declares triumphantly. It’s short-lived, however, as the peddler takes a running leap and snatches the lamp back out of the fat cat’s hands.

He doesn’t get to enjoy victory either, as one good swing from Pete clobbers the small man, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Gotcha now!” Pete says, holding the lamp high in the air. “Let that be a lesson to ya, that ya gotta get up pretty early in the morning to beat ol’… Ah!”

Iago, lamp clutched firmly in his talons, speeds away from the bickering pair, his beak bearing a wide smile.

“Way to go Iago!” Sora calls out with an exuberant laugh.

“Good work!” Aladdin adds, Abu chittering excitedly on his shoulder.

“Look out behind you!” Telary cautions, as Pete and the recovered peddler are hot on the parrot’s tailfeathers.

“Try not to drop it, will ya?” Azlyn says, not quite as encouraging as the rest of her friends.

Hearing all the advice, Iago takes a second to glance over his shoulder at the group below. Distracted, the parrot flies straight into the central column of the fountain. He rears back, the lamp flying from his loose talons as he falls into the water.

The flying lamp lands a direct hit to the peddler’s face, bouncing off and making it a simple matter for Pete to snatch it up for himself. The nearby heroes gasp in alarm.

“Nice try, bird brain!” Pete gloats, his belly shaking with barely contained laughter. He holds the lamp up and squints at it. “I can’t wait to get Jafar out here. With that kinda power in Maleficent’s hands, conquerin’ the universe is gonna be a breeze!”

“What now?” Aladdin fearfully asks Sora.

“I, uh…” After a long moment of desperate thinking, the Keybearer can only shrug dejectedly. “I don’t know. It’d take some kind of miracle to…”

A loud explosion sounds in the air above, startling everyone in the plaza, Pete included. They all look up to see the fading sparks of a yellow firework drifting to earth. Another explosion of red briefly colors the sky, and then a sudden glint of light shines from the heavens.

With the speed of a racing rocket, a large blue figure makes his way to the ground, his wispy tail flailing out behind him.

“LUCY!” a familiar voice calls out. “I’M HOME!”

The one and only Genie of the lamp (for who else could have made such an entrance?) barrels into Pete, big blue arms wrapping around the fat cat in an anxious hug.

“Oh, Al, it’s so good to see you!” Genie declares, shaking who he thinks is his former master and good buddy. “I thought I wanted to explore the cosmos, but what good is an adventure throughout all existence without your best friend by your side?” Pulling away, Genie examines Pete with a pronounced grimace. “Wow, you look like you’ve gained quite a bit of weight in my absence. Oh no, have you been stress eating out of concern for me?” A tissue suddenly appears in the big blue lug’s hand, and he sadly blows his nose into it. “Don’t worry Aladdin, we _can_ get help. What’s your preferred program: Atkins, Weight Watcher’s… Jenny Craig? I can be your diet partner, you don’t have to do this alone. We can beat it together…”

“Uh, Genie?” the real Aladdin speaks up, catching the master of mystical mayhem’s attention. “Hi!”

Genie looks from Aladdin to Pete, then Pete to Aladdin. After a moment of contemplation, he drops the fat cat to the ground, leaving him to lay confused on the pavement.

“Oh, that’s my bad,” Genie admits with a sheepish shrug. He darts over to his friend, wrapping the former street rat in his azure embrace. Looking over his shoulder, he spots the offworld trio as well. “Sora, Azlyn, Telary! Fancy running into you here!”

“Yeah, you showed up just in time!” Sora cheerfully announces.

“Did I though?” Genie replies, winking to the fourth wall. “What an _interesting_ coincidence.”

Pete rises to his feet, not touched in the least by the sweet reunion of old friends. The lamp is no longer in his possession, loosened by all the frantic shaking Genie had done. The fat cat scowls.

“I’ve had just about enough of this abuse!” he declares with a stamp of his large foot. “I’ll teach you all to make a fool out of me!”

The fountain suddenly begins rumbling, shaking enough to rouse Iago and get him to clear out of it. He’s just in time too, as the water in the fountain’s collection basin suddenly turns to a sheet of ice, as does the water streaming down from the top.

After a long moment the fountain explodes into a hundred icy pieces, leaving behind a large blue Heartless wearing a cape and wielding an icicle-encrusted staff. Its round body is transparent, and the thin blue and black stalk of its spine can clearly be seen. The Heartless emblem sits in the middle of the Blizzard Lord’s silver belt.

The trees of the nearby garden begin to shake to, suddenly set ablaze. From the fire emerges what seems to be a perfect twin of Blizzard Lord, red and yellow where it is blue and white, clutching a staff topped with a fiery coal. Volcanic Lord’s Heartless emblem stands out against his brilliant golden belt.

“Uh oh,” Azlyn declares, drawing forth her shield warily.

“Hey, uh, Genie,” Aladdin asks his newly returned friend, “is there any way that you could...?”

Genie sighs. “Sorry kiddo, I ain’t got that kinda mojo anymore.”

“Don’t worry,” Sora assures the big blue lug with a dismissive shrug. “We can take any Heartless that comes our way, no big! Right guys?”

“Sure can,” Azlyn chimes in confidently.

“Uh, historically we’ve been fairly successful,” Telary replies with considerably less bravado.

The Elemental Lords charge, Volcanic quickly taking the lead by bouncing on its ample belly. Every time its torso hits the ground, a ring of burning flame is left in its wake.

Sora and Aladdin leap to the right, Azlyn and Telary dodging left. The fiery fiend pursues the second trio, who scramble away with it on their trail.

Blizzard Lord summons a torrent of sharply-pointed ice crystals, waving its staff and hurling the deadly projectiles at Sora and Aladdin. They duck and jink and juke to dodge, the crystals smashing against the ground.

A particularly high bounce lands Volcanic Lord in front of Azlyn and Telary, who scramble backwards only to find hot ground beneath their feet. Both yelp and leap away, the soles of their shoes smoking.

Luckily Genie is on the scene, dressed in fireman’s kit and driving a large red firetruck with the hose in his hand. He sets free a torrent of water, eliminating the burning patches of ground.

Blizzard Lord unleashes a blast of icy breath, stomach slowly deflating as it does, and suddenly Aladdin is engulfed in a crystalline prison of ice. Sora cries out and reverses direction to help his friend, unwittingly putting himself in the path of a deadly flying icicle…

Out of nowhere comes the flying purple rectangle of Carpet, knocking Sora to the ground just as the frozen projectile sails over his head.

“Hey Carpet!” Sora greets his woven friend, cheery despite the present circumstances. “Long time, huh?”

“Sora!” Azlyn calls out across the garden. Looking up, the Keybearer sees five orbs of white hot flame diving for the knight, Azlyn only barely dodging them.

Sora rises and rushes to his friend’s aid, diving in front of three orbs and deflecting them with a Reflect spell. The projectiles bounce of the shield of light and go flying at Blizzard Lord.

The icy Heartless manages to dodge two orbs, but the third grazes its chest. Blizzard Lord rears back in apparent agony, and suddenly Sora has an idea on how to defeat the twin Heartless.

“Telary, thaw Aladdin out!” he instructs the wizard. “Azlyn, stay on the blue one! If it tries that ice breath, plug him up with your shield!”

“On it!” Azlyn confirms, batting away a deluge of tiny frozen slivers as she makes her way to Blizzard Lord.

Sora turns to Volcanic Lord, just past a fiery ring where Genie, dressed in full scoutmaster gear, is roasting a marshmallow on a stick. The Keybearer lets loose a blizzard spell, sending a solid chunk of ice at his flaming opponent. It takes the hit and directs its attention at the shooter, leaping onto its belly and diving towards Sora.

Azlyn dodges a wide sweep of Blizzard Lord’s staff, noticing the creature beginning to suck in, intent on letting out its freezing breath. Jumping up with a grunt, the knight uses her shield to plug up the Heartless’s mouth.

Sora waits for Volcanic Lord to reach him, running underneath the Heartless with his Keyblade raised. The fiery fiend impales itself on the tip of the blade, its weight pressing down on Sora.

Concentrating his strength, Sora begins to spin, dragging Volcanic Lord in wide circles with him. After three revolutions, he lets go, the Heartless spinning straight through the air at its frozen counterpart.

Azlyn easily picks up her cue to release Blizzard Lord, the pent up energy expelling itself and sending the Heartless flying through the air, where it manages to perfectly meet Volcanic Lord.

The explosion is big and loud, and cold rain is falling by the time the echoes of it fade out. Both Heartless are gone, their captive hearts floating free.

“Dang it!” Pete exclaims from the sidelines. The heroes turn to him at the sound of the outburst, and he scowls back ferociously. “I’ll get you yet, ya meddling kids!” With that said, Pete opens a dark portal and retreats into it.

“Oh boy, I’m really shaking in my boots,” Azlyn snorts dismissively.

“Al!” Genie cries out in concern, appearing in the guise of a white-haired old grandma to wrap a heavy blanket around the shivering former street rat. He also hands the young man a steaming hot chocolate. “You’ll catch your death, you will!”

“Aladdin!” Jasmine’s voice rings out. Turning, the group notices the princess rushing out of the palace’s backdoor.

“Jasmine!” Aladdin slips out of his blanket, drops the cocoa to the ground, and rushes for the woman he loves, her embrace warming him more effectively than any hot beverage.

“When I heard the sounds of the battle, I got so worried!” Jasmine declares as she squeezes her man. “But I’m glad you’re alright.” The girl frowns, concern deep in her eyes. “You _are_ fine, right?”

“Yeah, Jasmine, I am!” Stepping aside, Aladdin gestures sweepingly to Genie and Carpet, who both seem happy to see the princess. She giggles and waves at the pair.

“I’m good too, thanks for asking,” Azlyn sighs to no one in particular.

“I’m so sorry about the way I’ve been acting, Jasmine,” Aladdin apologizes. “I should’ve just talked to you, I’m sure you would have understood.”

“You can talk to me about _anything_ , Aladdin,” Jasmine reassures him, kissing his cheek. “I’m always here to listen.”

“I’m here too!” Iago chimes in uninvited. Jasmine glares up at the parrot, but Aladdin looks at him with a soft expression.

“I know, Iago,” Aladdin tells the former villain. “And, because of all your help today, I’ve decided to give you another chance.”

Overjoyed, Iago begins turning flips through the air, hooting and hollering happily.

“You sure you want this bird in the coop, Al?” Genie asks suspiciously.

“I think Iago’s done more than enough to at least merit some consideration,” Aladdin defends. “Besides, better to keep him close, right?”

“Right,” Azlyn confirms.

“Speaking of keeping things close,” Telary says, approaching with Jafar’s lamp held carefully in both hands, “what are we going to do with this?”

“I’ll have it put in the deepest dungeon,” Jasmine declares, carefully taking the black object from the wizard. “There’s no way we can let Jafar ever get loose.”

“So, I guess it’s a happy ending all around, huh?” Sora says with a satisfied smile.

“You bet it is!” Azlyn practically coos, pulling out her loot sack. Telary and Sora roll their eyes at the girl. “Especially with all the treasure I managed to… Huh?”

The knight lets her sack drop to the ground, and the sound it makes in no way resembles the tinny _clink_ of gold coins. In fact, it sounds more like…

“Rocks!” Azlyn declares forlornly, sinking to her knees and shaking her fist at the sky. “What cruel trick is this?” Tears pool in her eyes, and it’s only through sheer force of will that the girl does not cry. “All I want is to get maximum profit with next to no effort. Is that so much to ask?”

“Oh, did you get those from the Cave of Wonders?” Genie asks, inspecting the worthless stones. “Yeah, that’s the trick of the place. Except for the lamp, everything else is just a bunch of rocks enchanted to _look_ valuable. Something about great things coming in shabby packages. I don’t know, I only skimmed the orientation documents.”

“So, it’s _all_ worthless?” Sora asks while Telary lays a comforting hand on Azlyn’s shoulder. “There’s no real treasure but the lamp?”

“Actually,” Genie says, scratching his black goatee, “I think that something actually valuable might have slipped in at some point. Big gold thing, lots of red rubies…”

Telary blurts out a laugh. Everyone turns to him, and he smiles as he explains. “That’s actually what we were gonna take to the peddler to trade for the lamp. But in all the rush, we forgot it! Ha!”

“We’re going back,” Azlyn declares, gravely serious in the midst of the laughter around her. Sora opens his mouth to argue, but she presses a finger to his lips to shut him up. “We’re. Going. _Back_.”

“Fine,” Telary allows. “But first we’re making a short stop. There’s something I’ve been meaning to do.”

“Uh, I guess it’s time for us to leave,” Sora says sheepishly, turning back to Aladdin and company.

“Will you be back?” Jasmine asks, throwing a concerned look at Aladdin.

“Definitely,” Sora replies with a grin. “We wouldn’t want Al getting all upset without us around.”

“Oh there’s no need to worry about _that,_ my spiky-haired friend,” Genie assures with a wink. “Nobody can be sad when Genie’s on the case!”

That’s certainly true enough.

**KH-KH-KH**

The trio enter the Cave of Wonders treasure cavern once more, all a little more scorched than they’re comfortable with.

“This is the worst cave setup yet!” Sora declares, putting out a small fire burning on his jacket. “I mean, lizards made of fire? C’mon!”

“Worth it,” Azlyn says shortly, already stalking through the open path with a determined look.

“Yeah,” Telary says with a satisfied smirk, thinking back on the kebab he had finally gotten to sample. “I like my meat extra crispy anyway.”

A loud sound, coins falling down a pile, suddenly rings out off to the left. Concerned, the trio move to investigate.

Crouching behind a pile, they all look on as Pete, assisted by a trio of Fat Bandits, loads treasure into a huge metal bin by the pound.

“Well, I may not have a genie or Heartless to show fer my trouble,” the fat cat says smugly to himself, “but at least I can impress Maleficent with all this cash!”

The trio’s hands all fly to their mouths, desperately stifling the giggles that threaten to burst out. Slowly and quietly, they move away.

“Oh man!” Azlyn whispers through her laughter. “Can you imagine the look on ol’ Mal’s face when Pete gives her a tub full of rocks? That’ll be _priceless_!” The boys’ laughter signals that they both agree with the knight’s sentiment.

It only takes another minute to walk to the pedestal with the golden treasure. Sighing appreciatively, Azlyn moves to grab it.

She stops short suddenly, noting that an aura of soft white light is beginning to glow around the golden trophy. When Sora’s Keyblade appears in his hand, it’s obvious what needs to be done.

As soon as the next path is opened, Azlyn stands ready to catch the treasure as it gently floats down.

“Huh,” Telary says thoughtfully, shaking his head slowly. “I guess it’s a good thing we came back for that, isn’t it? Maybe Azlyn’s greed _is_ good for something!”

Azlyn glares at her counterpart, tenderly stroking her prize. “Shh, Telary. Not in front of the gold.”


	18. What's This

A long, lusty howl is the first noise to greet Sora as he takes his first steps into the world of Halloween Town, the last sparks of the Gummi ship transporter fading into the darkness of the night.

The gloom, however, is held off by the huge full moon shining a pale yellow up above, ethereal wisps of grey clouds drifting past it like shadow puppets against a spotlight.

He’s in a graveyard, tombstones and mausoleums of all shapes, sizes, and descriptions springing up out of the ground around him. In any other world it might be a place of foreboding, with its long shadows and the mist-covered ground, but in Halloween Town, it all just seems another part of its festive theme.

For Halloween Town is home of the scary, the spooky, a place where the strangest creatures imagination can conjure dwell in harmony, frightening not out of malice or cruelty, but for the simple pleasure a good, harmless scare can bring.

And now, thanks to the mystical blending properties of the good fairies’ magic garments, Sora counts among their number, in a black jacket with a grey shirt beneath. His shorts are an exact match color wise to the jacket, and extend just as far down his legs as his normal bottoms. The most notable feature on the Keybearer’s face is a large orange jack o’lantern mask covering his right eye, though it does nothing to impede his vision. White gloves with pronounced claws cover his hands, and in his mouth hang a pair of vampiric fangs sharp as daggers.

“Man, I forgot how awesome these costumes are!” the boy marvels, looking over himself with an approving smile. His words slur a bit thanks to the protruding teeth, but it’s worth it for the effect.

No one agrees with his assessment, and turning around with a frown he immediately deduces that once again the teleporter has caused a separation. He sighs and shakes his head, looking for any sign of his companions.

Another howl keens through the night, this one giving the Keybearer a moment’s pause. He shakes his head to compose himself, keeping in mind that the residents of Halloween Town are a friendly folk (barring an incident last year that involved interrupting a Halloween dance rehearsal), and he looks just as frightening as any of them anyway.

A noise to his left, like footsteps scraping against gravel, immediately clears all rational, confident thoughts from his head. He whips his head to the noise’s source, but sees nothing but the empty graveyard laid out before him.

But the noise strikes again, coming from nearby. Stepping closer, Sora spots the solid grey slab of a tombstone, chipped and faded so that nothing but the letters _B_ and _T_ remain. Before the stone lies an open grave, a rectangle about as long as Sora is tall, and about three-quarters as wide. It seems empty, but the light grey mist floating above it keeps Sora from investigating further at this distance.

He decides to approach, already telling himself that this is some sort of prank, that as soon as he looks into the grave Azlyn is going to jump out yelling boo.

“Real funny, Az,” he sighs with a fond shake of his head. “C’mon, don’t you think a trick like this is kind of lame for you? Why don’t you give it some style, a little bit of flair!” There is no response, and Sora tells himself it’s a sign of Azlyn’s dedication rather than an indication he’s made a wrong assumption.

Finally reaching the grave, he frowns and leans over to look inside. Peering past the thin mist, he sees nothing within, throwing his theory into question a little. Still, just because the girl has found a way to conceal herself doesn’t mean…

“Boo!”

Sora doesn’t scream, holding in the noise that threatens to burst out and leave the knight an opening for taunting that will last too long. He does jump, however, slipping in his fear and falling for the open grave. An idea suddenly overtaking him, he goes limp and lets himself go.

Before he can fully tip over, thankfully, Azlyn reaches out with lightning reflexes and grabs him by the arm, pulling him back to solid ground.

“Nice try, Sora,” the girl snorts as he turns to face her. “But you can’t counter-prank me, kid. Not in your wildest dreams.”

Sora looks his friend’s costume up and down, remembering the details from last year. She wears a white, closed lab coat that stops at her waist, and from there on a black silk skirt that looks as if it was spun from spider webs, matching the dark rubber of her elbow-length gloves. Two metal bolts protrude from her neck, and a solid column of curled black hair with a lightning bolt of white in it from the top of her head. Hidden inside the hairdo, Sora recalls, is a metal rod that conducts electricity through her body like a joy buzzer. Her face has the slightest tinge of green, and dark black lipstick stains her lips.

“Well excuse me for not being as immature as you,” Sora shoots back with a sneer that somehow manages to convey no actual malice.

Azlyn rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

“If Telary was around, you’d be in for such a lecture.” A sudden thought occurs to him, and his lips curl teasingly. “Then again, maybe you’d _like_ that…”

Azlyn doesn’t even think before pushing the Keybearer. He lets out a yelp and falls directly into the open grave, but laughter soon drifts up out of the ground.

“And you said I couldn’t get my revenge!” He holds his hands up and Azlyn reaches down to help him back up. After he’s secure, the girl turns away from him, arms crossed huffily across her chest. “But, seriously, where do you think he ended up? Somewhere close I hope. Do you remember the graveyard being near the square, because we might as well…”

Azlyn walks away and Sora closes his mouth, frowning as he follows along behind his friend, headed for a path between two buildings. Examining the stone, he sees dozens of tiny orange lights, all strung along the path like lights on a Christmas tree. After a few feet there’s even some sprigs of holly, though they look black and charred, miniature skulls resting within the needles.

“What do you think this is about?” Sora asks, scratching at the back of his neck. “I don’t remember anything like this being here last time.”

“Well, whatever it is,” Azlyn sighs resignedly, “I’ll bet you anything it has to do with that Jack Skellington guy.” The knight scowls. “Ugh, he gets on my nerves!”

“C’mon Azlyn,” Sora admonishes her with a playful nudge to the shoulder, “Jack’s a fun guy! A little much, sure, but that’s basically his reason for being! I mean, the guy is in charge of Halloween!” He moves past her, following the lights and black holly. “Let’s see if this goes all the way to the square. Telary can find his way to us there.”

Azlyn follows along, but not before tersely ripping down some holly and tossing it to the paved ground.

Guillotine Square, so-named for the large execution device that looms over the plaza, is just as vibrantly decorated, if not moreso. Crisscrossing strings of lights hang from every building, wrapping around the central fountain and spreading through the air like spokes on a wheel. In one corner sit a pile of boxes in black paper, smiling jack’o lanterns printed on every one. In another, a large dead fir tree looms, decorated with orange baubles and ornaments in the shapes of skulls and pumpkins, a ghostly tree topper crowning it.

“I’m starting to see your point,” Sora informs Azlyn, looking all around the square with a vaguely disapproving expression. “I mean, this is Halloween Town, not Christmas! What’s next, a…?”

The tinkling of bells rings out over the town, and looking up Sora and Azlyn spot a sleigh soaring through the sky, briefly silhouetted against the bright moon. It’s being pulled by four reindeer with not an ounce of skin among them, the moonlight shining through their ribcages. A tall, slim figure sits holding the reigns, obviously Jack Skellington, and beside him is another slightly shorter figure, some kind of bandages streaming out behind him.

The sleigh begins its descent, and the pair in the square go running after it, eventually reaching another, smaller plaza with a large wooden ramp set up in the middle of it, more orange lights lining the sides of the runway. The sleigh heads straight for it, the skeletal hooves of the reindeer _clip-clopping_ against the wood.

As they achieve touchdown, a familiar shriek comes from the man sitting next to Jack, wrapped head to toe in dirty bandages like a mummy. Even if Sora didn’t remember last year, the frightened noise and tufts of red hair sticking out of the head bandages can only belong to one person: Telary.

The sleigh grinds to a halt, and from up close Sora can spot more details of the vehicle. Its body consists of a single coffin, lid open to provide room for the driver and a passenger. Behind it is a large round trashcan, blue snowflakes and black bats hastily painted on it.

“Sora, Azlyn!” Jack Skellington cries happily, dropping the reins and standing up. The Pumpkin King is tall and skinny as ever, wearing his trademark pinstripe suit and bat bowtie. A wide smile seems to split his skull in two. “A convivial Chrismaween to you! I believe you are acquainted with this young man?” He gestures to Telary, who looks dizzy and about ready to hurl. “I found him while test-driving the Sleigher(TM Pending), and thought I’d bring him along.”

“Are you okay?” Azlyn asks, leaping up on the ramp and supporting Telary’s drooping head. He only moans in reply. Frowning, the girl holds up a hand. “Did this moron hurt you? How many fingers?”

“Uh, hi Jack,” Sora greets the Knight of Nightmares while Telary botches Azlyn’s question. “You look, uh… You sure have made some, er, changes around here. What’s up with that?”

“Like I told you, Sora, it’s Chrismaween!” Jack answers with pep, jumping down off the ramp and heading back to Guillotine Square.

Sora looks up to Azlyn, who has just managed to get Telary out of the Sleigher and back on his feet. She only shrugs and waves him on, helping Telary down off the ramp at a slower pace.

“Did that quack tell you anything about all this?” the knight asks her counterpart as they make their way down the street.

“I think so,” Telary answers. “But I was kind of busy keeping my lunch in to really listen.”

Azlyn laughs. “What lunch, Tel?”

Looking down, Telary spots the hole through his torso where no bandages are wrapped, leaving a clear view of what’s behind him.

“Ah, there you are!” Jack says as the pair enter the square, standing on the rim of the fountain. Light from the likely toxic green liquid inside the base illuminates him eerily. “As I told Sora, during this past year I happened to get myself a little taste of the joys of Christmas! As soon as I discovered the holiday, I knew that I must make it my own!” Here the skeleton loses some of his _joie de vivre_ , awkwardly scratching at the back of his skull with his long, bony fingers. “But when that, uh, didn’t exactly work out, I had a sudden burst of inspiration! Why not take the best parts of Christmas and Halloween, and combine them into one?!? Why, I can only imagine it will double, if not _triple_ childhood enjoyment across the universe! Thus was born… _Chrismaween_!”

There’s a long moment of silence from the trio, Azlyn breaking it after a moment with a relieved sigh.

“And here I thought this was gonna be some _insane_ scheme,” she says, pantomiming wiping sweat off her brow. Jack Skellington beams proudly. “Turns out, it’s just incredibly _stupid_!”

“Azlyn!” Telary admonishes the girl, though he can’t quite say that he actually disagrees with her on that point.

For his part, Jack doesn’t seem to mind. “It’s alright, Telary,” the Pumpkin King says with a nonchalant shrug. “Like any revolutionary idea, this one is going to have to face some intense scrutiny. What do you think they said about the guy who came up with Casual Friday, eh?”

No answer seems forthcoming, so Jack soldiers on. “To that end, I have a further presentation on the idea prepared in Dr. Finkelstein’s lab. I may as well test it out on you three before delivering it to Sandy Claws.”

“Sandy Claws?” Sora asks as Jack makes his way to the large metal orb of Dr. Finkelstein’s laboratory.

“I think he means Santa Claus,” Telary replies with a sage nod.

“Well _duh_ , Telary!” Azlyn shoots back, rolling her eyes.

“Santa Claus, huh?” Sora says slowly, a dreamy smile slinking across his face. “Y’know, maybe this whole Chrismaween thing isn’t such a bad idea after all. Wait up Jack!”

As Sora rushes across the square to meet the Pumpkin King, a cold wind blows, another howl echoes through the night sky, and a Jack-in-the-Box springs open to reveal a moaning ghost.

“Not a bad idea, he says,” Azlyn mutters under her breath, Telary shivering in fright beside her. “Just you wait Sora. Just you wait.”

Halloween Town

When Jack and the trio arrive in the lab, Dr. Finkelstein is, no surprise, hard at work on an experiment, his wheelchair sitting in front of a desk with two vials in a stand, one full of orange liquid and the other red.

“Greetings, Doctor!” Jack calls out with a cheery wave, his leather shoes clanking against the metal floor.

“Jack,” the good doctor says irritably, maneuvering his wheelchair into a one-eighty degree turn. He still looks as freakish as ever, with his pallid grey skin, massive cranium with hinges, and the way his lips protrude from his face like an anteater’s snout. The scowl on his face makes him seem even more unpleasant. “These foolish Chrismaween experiments you have me conducting are cutting into my real work!”

Wheeling over to a curtain hung across an iron rod, the doctor twitches it aside with a black-gloved hand, revealing another space beyond, the most prominent feature being a large metal slab that the trio remember a Heartless being strapped to last year. Now, various metal parts sit atop it.

“What’s going on in here?” Sora asks, poking his head in and taking a look around. After a moment he spots movement, and turning his head he gasps at what he sees.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel, three mischievous pranksters that had moved up a level in naughtiness as minions of Oogie Boogie last year, sift through a pile of metal on the floor.

“Hey, it’s those punk kids!” Azlyn chimes in, already going for her shield. “Get away from there, you…”

“Relax, relax!” Finkelstein interrupts, turning back to his vials and dismissively waving a hand at the costumed miscreants. “They’re working for me as part of their community service hours.”

“Community service?” Sora asks with a raised eyebrow behind his pumpkin mask.

“Well, softy Jack there wouldn’t let me _flog_ them like I wanted to, so…”

“Just my little way of reminding them that actions have consequences,” Jack answers with a proud, beaming smile.

“They’re still working off that business with Oogie Boogie?” Telary asks, concerned. “That seems like a lot of hours.”

“They got themselves a little extension,” Finkelstein answers as he pours some liquid from each vial into a larger beaker. “After the other little incident, we decided to tack on more time.”

“What other incident?” Azlyn asks just as a loud metallic _clang_ rings out across the lab.

Turning, everyone sees a machine part laying on the floor between the three children. After a moment it begins to hiss and spit sparks, until it all just explodes, sending the lab’s occupants diving down to escape the flying metal fragments.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Lock, Shock, and Barrel hightail it out of the lab, giggling amongst themselves all the while.

“Confounded brats!” Finkelstein calls after them, shaking a fist in the air. “If you’ve ruined my experiment with your reckless horsing around, there’ll be Hell to pay, make no mistake about that!”

Sora turns to Jack and thrusts his thumb at the lab’s door. “You want us to take care of that for you?”

“No, no,” Jack replies with a shake of his head. “They’re long gone by now, and I still want to give you my Chrismaween presentation. Speaking of, oh Doctor!”

“What is it?” the mad scientist snaps, looking up huffily from the slab, where he’s been examining the parts of his experiment for signs of damage.

“I was just wondering how the special research I’ve asked you to do is coming along.”

Finkelstein wheels back to his vials, still scowling. “It’s a dead end, Jack. I’ve tried everything I can think of, but there’s just no way to successfully combine pumpkin spice with peppermint!”

Just thinking about that flavor combination brings grimaces to the offworlder trio’s faces. One more tally mark goes on the board against Chrismaween.

“Well, I suppose if you need more time, I could just move the date back,” Jack replies with a frown, scratching at his bony chin. “I wanted to shoot for mid-July, but I guess August could work. There are hardly any important holidays then anyway, and it’ll be a nice treat before the kids are back to school!”

The door to the lab screeches open, and everyone turns to see Sally, a girl with a body as patchwork as her dress, enter the lab, smiling sweetly. Her long red hair runs down to the small of her back, and her wide eyes take in the lab’s occupants.

“Hello, everyone,” she greets with a wave. Noticing Sora and his friends, her smile lights up even further. “Sora, Azlyn, Telary! So nice to see you three again!”

Sora opens his mouth to greet the girl, but before he can say anything Jack barges in, pushing the boy aside.

“Sally!” the Pumpkin King exclaim joyfully, his grin widening. “This is incredible timing, I was just about to ask about you!”

“She hardly ever shows up when _I’m_ in need of her,” Finkelstein mumbles to himself crossly. “Silly girl, don’t know why I even bothered to make her!”

“About that project you had me working on, Jack,” Sally says with a nervous sigh, turning away from the Pumpkin King shyly. “I’m afraid that I just couldn’t manage to finish it. I had so little notice, and honestly I don’t think…”

“Don’t be sad, Sally!” Jack encourages the girl, placing a bony but comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’re pushing the date back anyway, I think.” As he speaks, Jack grabs a black folder emblazoned with a Santa-hatted jack o’lantern, full of pieces of paper. “Besides, I have the original sketches to present to Sandy. No problem!”

“But Jack, I really think you should…”

“Goodbye everyone!” Jack addresses the room with a royal wave. “I’m off to see Sandy, wish me luck!”

“Going to see Santa…” Sora repeats dreamily as Jack makes his exit, his mouth dropping open in a dopey grin. Azlyn rolls her eyes heavily.

“Oh,” Sally whimpers, shaking her head and clutching her hands together tightly. “I just have such a bad feeling about this whole Chrismaween business. I just know there’s a disaster waiting to happen!”

“You and me both, sister,” Azlyn agrees with a nod. “But do they listen? Nope!”

“That’s not fair Azlyn,” Telary tells his partner with a frown. “It just so happens that I have a lot of the same reservations as you do. What about you Sora? Sora?”

The Keybearer seems lost in his fugue state, having picked an incredibly inconvenient moment to indulge a wave of childish nostalgia.

“Oh, this is just great,” Azlyn grumbles. “And I’ll bet it gets worse!”

A loud creak alerts everyone to the door opening once again, and Jack steps in after a moment, the folder tucked under his arm. He looks a bit worried.

“Um, are those fellows in the town square with you all?” he inquires with a tilt of his skull.

“I don’t think so,” Sora replies, shaking his head. “What ‘fellows’ are you talking about Jack?”

“Let me guess,” Azlyn deadpans with a perturbed expression. “It’s the Heartless, and they’re running amuck.”

“Ah, yes, now I remember!” Jack says, frowning. “Those awful fellows tried to ruin my last Halloween!”

“They sure did,” Azlyn agrees, fixing the Pumpkin King with a scornful look. “Probably because they resented being turned into dancing puppets by a certain dim-witted skeleton!”

“Be nice, Azlyn,” Telary scolds the knight. “No, Jack, they certainly aren’t with us!”

Azlyn shrugs. “Well, that’s not exactly true. I mean, it seems like they only show up on worlds when we’re around.”

“Either way,” Sora interjects, the mention of the denizens of Darkness apparently enough to rouse him from his Santa-induced haze, “me and these two can take care of ‘em, no problem!”

“Do be careful out there, Jack,” Sally cautions the group. “These creatures are quite nasty, as I recall.”

“Of course Sally,” the Pumpkin reassures her. “When have you ever known _me_ to partake in rash action?”

“Too easy, Azlyn,” the knight mutters to herself, her head shaking limply. “It’d be _too_ easy.” /

The square is indeed run amuck with Heartless, mostly the skeletal, bandaged wrapped Wight Knights and squirrely Shadows, all rushing around and chasing the freakish citizenry of Halloween Town.

Standing tall above the chaos (mostly to avoid any danger) is the honorable two-faced Mayor. He’s currently showing the stark white face that embodies his negative emotions, his large eyes twitching nervously from disaster scene to disaster scene.

“Now hear this you, you _things_!” the mayor calls out through the cone of a small black megaphone. “I am the mayor of this town, and therefore I order you, with the all powers bestowed to me by the noble denizens of this fair town…”

“Mayor!” Jack calls as he and the trio arrive at the fray, weapons ready for attack.

“Oh, thank Freddie Kruger!” the mayor exclaims as he sees Jack down in the square. “I knew you’d come Jack, I just knew! I’m only an elected official you know, I can’t do anything by myself!”

“Who keeps voting for that guy?” Azlyn asks no one in particular.

“We can worry about local politics later,” Sora says seriously, Keyblade in hand. It looks darker than usual, the silver metal of its hilt and blade a little corroded and dirtied, fitting in better with the world’s atmosphere. “Right now, let’s take down some Heartless!”

The trio charge into battle, immediately splitting up and heading after the Halloween Town denizens most in need of rescue. Sora dives for a Wight Knight threatening a trio of vampires, who float swiftly along rather than run from the creature. It strikes at Sora with its long arm, but the Keybearer takes a step back to dodge and swipes it clean through.

Azlyn notices Shadows stalking a large, moldy-looking woman and her equally grotesque son near the fountain. She leaps toward the confrontation, accidentally tangling herself in a strand of orange lights as she descends. If it bothers her she doesn’t indicate it, easily eliminating the minor threats.

Telary and Jack battle against a suddenly appearing cohort of Gargoyle Heartless, Telary zapping most of the creatures while Jack uses his long reach and powerful jumping to swipe through more with his bony claws. They eliminate most of the airborne Heartless, but looking around Telary can see many more on the ground, menacing the good folk of the town.

He can also see Azlyn fighting Soldiers and Wight Knights by the fountain, her leaping and wide swings getting her ever more ensnared by strands of Chrismaween lights.

It’s just about then that Azlyn notices as well, flinging her arm back for a shield throw and finding it suddenly caught against a strand that just won’t bend. A Soldier approaches and she tries for a kick, but she only barely gets her foot against the creature’s torso before the movement is arrested.

“Uh oh,” she mutters to herself, just barely moving her arm enough to deflect a leaping Shadow. Her shield’s edge glances against another bulb in a different strand as she swings, and it pops with a burst of sparks. The sparks fall to the ground, but they might as well jolt directly into Azlyn’s brain, igniting an idea. “Telary!”

“What?” the wizard calls, burning a pair of Driller Moles. Sora has joined him, and together they work to protect Wolfman and a frightful clown.

“Get the citizens out of the square!” Azlyn calls out, shaking against her self-made restraints to get a clear shot at a Soldier. “Then bring down all the lights! It’s time we got this place _really_ lit up!”

It takes only a moment for Telary to work through his counterpart’s plan, and find it appropriately brilliant. He quickly relays a few commands to Sora and Jack, and together the males work on getting spooks out of the square and Heartless in. Sora knocks a trio of Wight Knights near to the fountain as Jack reaches down to pull down three strings of lights as once.

“And I spent _so much_ time hanging these,” the Pumpkin King mutters sadly to himself.

It takes a long minute, but eventually every Heartless is tangled up in the electrical strands, unable to move.

“C’mon, Tel!” Azlyn calls out. “Light it up!”

Telary thrusts his staff high into the air and calls upon the power of thunder from within, his spell unleashing a single bolt of lightning so burning hot it glows white.

Directly into Azlyn’s cranium.

The long metal spike, concealed beneath the elaborate black hairdo that adds at least two inches to the knight’s height, perfectly conducts the energy, filtering it straight down and into her body. Fortunately for Azlyn, she provides no conduit for the energy, and so it seeks out the only escape it can have: the strands of lights.

Sizzling hot energy runs through the strewn wires, passing over and through every Heartless it encounters, burning them to crispy wisps of Darkness. It lasts for a full minute, the denizens of Halloween Town and Azlyn’s own friends unable to look without being blinded by the intense light.

When the light and heat and energy run their course, the square seems darker than ever, the citizens peeking out into the square to see the fruits of the heroes’ labors.

Azlyn stands alone in the square, smoke still rising off her body in a cloud so thick and black that it obscures her form completely.

“Azlyn!” Telary calls out, leaping over the field of spent wiring and blown lightbulbs, rushing into the smoke surrounding his friend. Choking on the thick smog, he conjures up a magical wind to clear the air.

Sora has to look away for a moment, the harsh smoke stinging his eyes, but when he turns back he sees Azlyn, perfectly unharmed despite her ordeal.

“That felt all… Tingly,” she tells Telary, a dull grin on her face suggesting that perhaps she didn’t manage to avoid _all_ negative repercussions. “Wheee!”

“Uh, let’s just get you outta there, huh?” Telary suggests, patting his friend on the shoulder with an encouraging smile. Immediately those monsters with sharpened appendages or claws move to help slice through the blown-out wires.

“Oh, Jack!” the mayor cries out in joyous ecstasy, his orange positivity face practically glowing with a wide smile. He rushes to the Pumpkin King, flinging Sora to the ground in his eagerness to shake Jack’s hand. “Once again, your quick thinking and tireless devotion has saved the day!”

“Oh, stop it!” Jack replies modestly, waving his hand dismissively.

“Yes, _please_ do,” Azlyn mutters to Telary, having apparently regained her senses.

“In honor of your bravery, I hereby declare this day to forevermore be known as ‘Jack Skellington Day’!” the mayor announces, screaming the last part into his megaphone. No one cheers, but there seems to be quite a bit of sighing.

“What’s with the bummer?” Sora asks a nearby vampire.

“We’ve already had seven Jack Skellington Days this month,” the creature of the night replies with a shake of his pale head.

“Probably over fifty this year,” chimes in an oozing green lake monster. “It’s the second most popular holiday around here. At least if you ask the mayor.”

“Okay, I am being completely serious here,” Azlyn tells the wolfman helping untangle her last bonds. “Has _anyone_ else, _ever_ , ran for mayor?”

“Well, this is certainly disturbing,” Jack informs Sora, resting a bony hand on the Keybearer’s shoulder. “The Heartless, back once again and obviously intent on keeping Chrismaween down.”

“Uh, well,” Sora pipes up, a rebuttal forming in his mind.

He doesn’t get the chance to speak it, however, before Jack suddenly straightens, a determined look on his skull. “It makes perfect sense of course, they are creatures of Darkness after all, and what could bring Light to a cynical, jaded universe like the greatest holiday known to man? And if they’ve attacked here, then it’s only reasonable that they have designs on the Christmas half of the equation as well!”

“That actually kind of makes sense,” Telary says as he and Azlyn approach. The knight gives him a glare, but he shrugs. “Not the ‘greatest holiday’ stuff, but that they’d go to this Christmas Town.”

“If Sandy is ever going to agree to combine our holidays, then he must be protected!” Jack declares righteously, his fingers curled into a determined fist. “Yes, fellows, it is our sacred duty to become Santa’s sworn bodyguards!”

“Excuse me?” Azlyn blurts defiantly, her own fingers clenched into fists of anger. “What kinda…?”

“Of course!” Sora interrupts, shouldering the girl aside with a beaming smile. “You’re absolutely right Jack. We should go meet Santa right away! No telling what those Heartless are up to, eh? So, are we gonna go now, or…?”

“Onward, loyal bodyguards!” Jack cries bravely into the night, finger thrust into the air. “To Christmas Town!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Far away from the town square, at the very edge of the dilapidated forest that covers the rest of the world, Lock, Shock, and Barrel ride their walking tub through the wastes.

“How are we even supposed to _get_ that many fish guts, idiot?” Shock admonishes the dimwitted Barrel, glaring at him from beneath her purple mask. “And besides, we basically did that two months ago with the bat guano. Which was _my_ idea by the way. All the good ideas are mine.”

“Well then why haven’t you come up with anything good yet, Your Grand High Thinkerness?” Lock complains, his little arms crossed over his chest. His devil mask is pushed up, the moonlight glinting off his pale face.

“Well, maybe my smarts are gettin’ a little messed up from all the _stupid_ you two are putting out into the air!”

“Uh, guys,” Barrel says quietly, drowned out underneath Lock’s retort. Desperate, the round-bodied boy in the skeletal mask tries again. “Lock, Shock!”

“Quiet, Barrel!” Shock shoots back without even sparing him a glance.

“Yeah,” agrees Lock. “Can’t you see I’m winning an argument over here?”

“Winning? Oh, you _wish_!”

The tub suddenly stops in its tracks, the sudden loss of momentum tugging the standing pranksters forward, falling into a pile at its lip.

“What the heck’s _this_ all about?” Lock complains, trying to push Shock off of him and get free. He finally does, and the girl falls back to the tub’s porcelain bottom with a screech. Shaking his head, Lock turns and looks up out of the tub.

Standing before it is a woman with jade-green skin dressed in robes of black and purple. She looks down at the children, her large black horns silhouetted against the moonlight.

“Who are you?” Shock asks with indignant sass, one hand smartly on her hip. “I thought I knew all the hags in town.”

“Maybe they kicked her outta the club,” Lock suggests with a mischievous grin, pushing his mask back down over his face. “For bein’ too old and ugly!”

“Silence, you fools!” Maleficent demands, green and yellow flames flaring out behind her like a cobra’s hood. The sudden fire spooks the prankster trio, who all pull more tightly together, shivering as a unit. “Who are you to speak such of me? Mere children playing tricks and petty cruelties. You know nothing of true power. True _Darkness_!”

“That ain’t true!” Shock speaks up, momentarily regaining her natural obstinacy. “We saw what happened to Oogie Boogie when he tried that stuff, and now he’s dead!”

“Ah, yes,” Maleficent says, nodding thoughtfully. “That fool thought he could control the Heartless better than I, and he paid for it. His power was nothing next to mine. I…”

The sound of nearby voices approaches, quickly cutting the witch off. Recognizing one of the voices, she draws out her staff and turns to the children.

“Be silent,” she instructs, throwing up a cloaking spell around the group.

It only takes another few seconds for Jack and the offworlders to crest a nearby hill, talking amongst themselves as they go.

“What is this slime supposed to be for?” Sora asks the Pumpkin King, examining a sheet of paper from the black Chrismaween folder.

“Slimeball fights!” the skeleton man responds ecstatically. His audience is rather less enthused, most grimacing at the prospect of getting pelted with such gross material. “They do it all the time in Christmas Town, though with the snow of course.”

“But there’s no snow in September,” Telary says with a weary nod. “At least that makes a little bit of sense.”

“Still gross,” Azlyn says, her face still twisted in disgust. The gang continues on into the forest, still discussing Chrismaween.

The cloaking spell fades, and Maleficent strokes her pointed chin thoughtfully.

“Tell me children,” she addresses the pranksters without looking at them, “what is this Christmas Town the skeleton spoke of?”

“I think it’s some kind of other world,” Shock says, having taken the position of group spokesgirl. “We went there a little while ago.”

“It was pretty awesome!” Barrel adds cheerfully. “Lotsa stuff to use for pranks. And there was that big machine that made any present you could want, right outta thin air!”

“A machine you say?” Maleficent repeats, intrigued by the prospect. “And it could create _anything_ from nothing?”

“Oh yeah!” Lock confirms.

“I should very much like to examine this machine you speak of,” the witch says with a smile on her face. “Would it be possible for you to show me the way to Christmas Town?”

“Uh, sure,” Shock says with a shrug. “But whaddya wanna do there?”

“You’ll see in time, my pets,” Maleficent explains, her grin growing more wicked by the moment. “Come along children, and I shall show you the true meaning of _mischief_!”


	19. Holly Jolly Horror

“Hold here a moment, fellow bodyguards!” Jack instructs the trio. They stand at the edge of a clearing, trees obscuring their view. “If you don’t mind, I’ll need a moment to get set up for the necessary dramatic reveal. Back in a jiff!”

“Aw guys, can you believe this?” Sora exclaims as the Pumpkin King skips off into the clearing. “We’re actually going to meet Santa!”

“You know what I can’t believe?” Azlyn says with a harsh glare at the Keybearer. “I can’t believe you’re getting so caught up in all this Santa business. You’re seventeen years old and, though I admit this reluctantly, kind of the universe’s greatest hero. But one mention of Ol’ Saint Nick and you go all googly!”

“What?” Sora asks with a start, frowning at Azlyn. “Sorry, I got kind of lost for a second there when you mentioned…”

“Yikes,” Azlyn mutters, shaking her head and turning away.

“She has a point Sora,” Telary agrees gently, shrugging. “If there are going to be Heartless in Christmas Town, we’re going to need to keep a cool head.”

Sora scoffs. “I’m fine guys. What I don’t understand is how little you guys are excited about this. I mean, it’s _Santa Claus_!” A thought suddenly strikes the boy, and he gives his companions a shocked look. “Don’t tell me you guys don’t _believe_ in Santa?”

“Of course we believe in Santa!” Azlyn snaps, throwing her hands up in the air. “After Heartless and genies and mermaids and, and, _time travel_ , Santa is like, the least fantastic thing I can think of. I’m just not letting the thought of him distract me from what’s important.”

“But Azlyn,” Sora says softly, grinning, “you saved the universe! Just think about what kind of present _that_ qualifies you for!”

Azlyn opens her mouth to retort, but suddenly the truth of Sora’s statement sinks into her mind.

“Alright everyone!” Jack announces, sticking his head in between two trees. “I’m ready for you now!”

“YAY!” Sora and Azlyn exclaim in unison, linking arms and skipping out into the clearing. Telary sighs, but follows along after them.

At the far end of the clearing is another ring of seven trees, though these are very different from the rest of the dilapidated foliage of the hinterlands forest. They’re all considerably taller and wider, and each one has a symbol painted on it: a pink Valentine’s heart, a green shamrock, a red, white, and blue firecracker, a pastel-colored egg, and even a golden brown turkey!

In the middle of the ring stands the tallest tree of all, Jack beside it. Whatever symbol decorates it is hidden by a thick maroon curtain.

“Here it is, my friends!” Jack declares with a showmanly wave of his bony hand. “Beyond this curtain lies the door to a world such as you’ve never seen, a place so full of laughter and good cheer it boggles the mind. A place where anyone can find true happiness, the kind of fulfilling joy that…”

“Just let us see already!” Sora calls out, bouncing with uncontrollable excitement on the balls of his feet.

Obligingly, Jack grabs the curtain in his hand and rips it off, accidentally overcommitting and covering himself with the thick cloth. He flails about for a moment to pull it off, by the trio hardly notice.

The mural is of a triangular Christmas tree, green and covered with red orbs and a long, silver strand of tinsel curling around it. At its base are three red boxes with white ribbon, jutting out and forming steps up to the symbol.

Reaching up to a single protruding globe of gold, Jack twists the handle and swings the symbol open like a door, revealing a vast dark tube, silvery snowflakes drifting out of it.

“Wow,” Telary says, stepping past the literally drooling Sora. “That’s…”

“Wheeee!” Sora cries, taking a running leap before launching himself down into the portal. Jack grins and follows close behind.

Azlyn and Telary are alone in the woods now, and the wizard gives his counterpart a questioning look, eyebrow raised and all.

“Aren’t you going to dive in too?” he asks her. “Go and get your mega-present?”

Azlyn sighs and looks away for a moment. When she looks back, her usual confidence seems to have ebbed.

“I guess I got lost in the moment for a second there,” she admits with a shrug. “But I still do have a lot of problems with this. I think Jack isn’t telling us something.”

“Based on past experience, I agree,” Telary says, stepping up to the open tree trunk. “But I may be overreacting. I mean, the worst thing Santa can do is give out coal, which is still a very useful heating element!” He takes a deep breath of the cool air coming from the portal. It seems crisper somehow, and carries the faint scent of gingerbread. “Besides, remember how much we loved Christmas as kids?”

“I guess you’re right,” Azlyn agrees with a shrug. “Besides, if I don’t go with you, there’s no way you’re gonna make that jump!”

He smiles back at her, holding out one hand. “You know me so well.”

She takes it and they jump together, falling quickly into a light spin, like they’re falling down the Wonderland rabbit hole all over again.

Their landing is not so gentle, mystical force flinging them out of the base of a pine tree with a pumpkin painted on it. They land in a snowbank, the frozen white liquid shooting up all around their impact point.

Looking up, the pair take in the wintery wonderland around them. They’re at the very top of a tall hill, overlooking a large village below. Still more firs line the long slope until they reach a huge valley almost completely occupied by a glittering village.

“Wow,” Azlyn says, dropping Telary’s hand and standing up, brushing snow off of herself. Curiously, the material of her shirt now feels less like the smooth leather of a lab coat, and more like a soft woolen sweater.

Looking down, she realizes that a sweater is exactly what she is wearing, a just slightly overlarge blue one with a large embroidered snowman emblazoned on the front. The spidery back skirt is gone too, replaced by a blue wool skirt rimmed with white fur, snow white leggings underneath.

Telary rises next to her, and looking over at him she can see the bandages are gone, replaced by his own sweater, green with a dark brown reindeer’s face on it. He wears matching shorts with red suspenders, and red and green striped tights that cling to his legs.

“Y’know the odd thing,” the wizard comments as he looks himself over, “I think I actually have this sweater back at Disney Castle.”

“Magic, Tel,” she reminds him with a smirk.

“C’mon you guys!” Sora calls out from further down the hill, still bouncing on the balls of his feet. He’s wearing a red sweater with a Christmas tree on the chest, and shorts, suspenders, and tights identical to Telary’s. With his shorter stature and spikier mane, the Keybearer looks even more like an elf than the wizard. “Santa’s waiting!”

“He’s correct, you know,” Jack chimes in. His appearance remains unchanged, standing out as obviously odd in the glittering white world of Christmas. “That big building down there is Santa’s workshop.” A thought strikes the skeletal man, and he grimaces. “I hope he has a slide projector in there…”

The group make their way down to the town, Sora in the lead and not doing a very good job holding to his promise about not getting caught up in the excitement. Telary follows right behind the boy, keeping him in check as best he can.

“I gotta admit, Jack,” Azlyn says as they go, “you were right about Christmas Town being a cool place.”

“Of course I was!” Jack replies immodestly, beaming once again. Making sure Sora is out of earshot, he leans down to the knight conspiratorially. “And, just so you know, there’s plenty of mistletoe down there.”

“Uh, okay,” the knight says, confused. “Why would I…?”

Jack looks a bit shocked at her tone. “Well, I noticed you and young Telary holding hands when you came through the portal, and I just assumed…”

“Mind your own damn business, freakazoid!” Azlyn throws up her hands and puts on some speed, distancing herself from Jack before he can see the blush in her cheeks that has nothing to do with the cold temperatures.

Jack watches her go with a frown, a little upset that he never got to explain to her the Chrismaween version of mistletoe kisses, which involves a hanging snake and blood sucking rather than leaves and kisses.

Thankfully, the knight’s frustration does give him time to notice a small rectangular piece of paper hanging on a nearby streetlamp. Giving it a quick read, the Pumpkin King reaches out and snatches it, quickly stuffing the sheet in his pocket. Given what’s printed on it, it would _not_ be wise to let any member of the trio see it. /

Christmas Town is even more impressive up close, though the small buildings that line the streets hardly seem fit to house anyone larger than a child. Which, considering the residents, is understandable. But although the colored lights, silvery tinsel, and perfectly crunching snow all come together to dazzle the senses, there’s one fact that can’t be denied: the streets are empty, completely devoid of all elfkind.

“I expected something a little more, y’know,” Telary says, looking around with a slight frown, “jolly. It’s a ghost town. Do you think the Heartless…?”

“No,” Sora says, having calmed down enough to actually look around objectively. “The town is pretty empty, but it doesn’t _feel_ empty, y’know? At Agrabah, and Hollow Bastion, it just felt like there was something off. I don’t get that here.”

“The elves are probably all just hard at work in Santa’s workshop,” Jack suggests, gesturing to the very top of the tallest building in town. “They’re a very diligent, hardworking people you know.”

“Oh, hey, there’s one now!” Telary says, drawing everyone’s attention. Not too far away, the sound of snow crunching under boots can be heard.

Looking up, the group spies a squat figure dressed in the classical red, white, and green elf garb, pointy ears and rosy cheeks and all. He’s wearing a fully-stocked tool belt, and making his way to Santa’s workshop. Sora and Telary quickly make their way over to him.

Azlyn is about to follow when there comes a sudden yelp from Jack, followed by the rustling of pine needles as the Pumpkin King hurls himself behind a small Christmas tree.

“What are you doing?” she demands, one eyebrow raised suspiciously as she peers down at the skeleton man. Her gaze notices something in his pocket, and she immediately draws out the crumpled piece of paper.

“No, wait!” Jack protests. He reaches out to grab the paper from Azlyn’s hands, but her reflexes are too swift, and she pulls the poster away from his grip.

 **“WARNING!”** it declares boldly underneath a black and white photograph of Jack Skellington, smiling his usual dopey grin. “ **Jack Skellington has been indefinitely banned from Christmas Town. If you see this man, report immediately to Santa, or a supervisor if he himself is unavailable.**

“So that’s the thing you weren’t telling us!” Azlyn yells, balling up the poster and pitching it into Jack’s chest. Despite the soft material of the paper, the skeleton yelps and takes a step back. “You’re _banned_ from Christmas Town!”

“Well,” Jack says sheepishly, tapping his fist nervously against his thigh, “what I don’t think you fully understand about _that_ is…”

“What’s going on?” Telary asks, arriving with Sora in tow. “That elf said Santa is open for… Hey, what’s this?”

“Jack here is banned from Christmas Town,” Azlyn reports as her counterpart begins to examine the poster himself.

“How do you get banned from Christmas Town?” Sora asks, the shock of the news temporarily beating out his childish glee.

“Well, it’s sort of a long, involved story, you see,” Jack replies, tugging at his bowtie anxiously. “Why should we let ourselves get all caught up in the past, am I right?”

Azlyn responds first, reaching out and taking the front of Jack’s suit in both her fists, bringing him down to stare into the empty black sockets of his eyes. Telary gasps and attempts to help the Pumpkin King out, but Sora holds him back.

“I’m only gonna tell you this once, so you’d better _listen_ ,” Azlyn hisses, mouth set in an outrageously terrifying snarl. “If your past stupidity in any way messes up me getting my present, I will use your _skull_ as a _blitzball_. Is that clear?”

“Uh,” Jack stammers, suddenly not feeling so much like the master of terror. “Y-yes ma’am. Clear as a snow globe!”

“Uh-huh.” Finished with her threats, Azlyn throws Jack to the ground, his bony butt landing in a snowbank.

“Considering the circumstances,” Telary chimes in nervously, stepping between Jack and Azlyn, “maybe it would be best if we just went back to Halloween Town, hm?”

The other three begin a hearty protest, getting in Telary’s face and overwhelming the wizard with their objections.

He tries to stand firm in the face of the complaints, but before he can say anything back there comes the familiar sounds of Heartless warping in.

It’s a small group, just a few Driller Moles and candlebearing Trick Ghosts. The battle is short and sweet, leaving the square clear in minutes.

“See Telary, we can’t leave!” Jack says, gesturing to the spot where they’d just done battle. “Those Heartless showing up only proves that Santa is in serious need of some protection!”

“Jack’s right,” Sora agrees with a too-eager nod. “We can’t just turn our backs on Christmas!”

“On principle, I won’t agree with that first thing Sora said,” Azlyn adds. “But he’s right that we can’t leave Santa in this kind of danger.”

Telary struggles to come up with a counter-argument, but everything he reaches for falls apart and drifts away in the chilly winter wind.

“Fine,” he says with a relenting sigh, rolling his eyes as Sora and Jack cheer. “But we can’t take Jack in to see Santa.”

The Pumpkin King’s face falls, and he’s about to voice a protest when Azlyn gives him another glare and mimes a kicking motion. Seeing that shuts him up very quickly.

“You can leave me out here when you go in, that’s fine,” Jack acquiesces. “But maybe while you’re in there you could put in a good word for me with Santa. You’re all big time heroes after all, certainly he’d take your opinions of me into consideration!”

“Of course we can do that, Jack!” Sora assures his skeletal friend. “We’re great at mending fences. Just ask Iago!”

“I don’t know who that is,” Jack says, “but I trust you guys!”

Leaving Jack behind in the square, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary approach the front door of Santa’s house. It’s decorated simply, with just a plain green wreath hanging on it. Sora lunges for the doorknob, but Telary gets there first.

“Now I know you’re all excited about seeing Santa,” the wizard says, his voice calm but undeniably lecturing, “but this is still another person’s home, and you will treat it and the man who lives here with the respect they deserve.”

“Of course I will, Telary,” Sora promises, taking a deep breath and reining in his eagerness. “Azlyn’s right, I’m seventeen years old, I can keep a lid on things.”

“Whatever,” Azlyn mumbles, which is pretty much her version of what Sora just said. Nudging Telary aside, she opens up the door into Santa’s house.

The room inside the door doesn’t look very much like a house, however, more like a waiting room in a hospital. To one side is a row of cushioned chairs flanked on either side by tables full of magazines, most of them devoted to baking or decorating. A circular reception desk sits in the middle of the room, and a bored looking elf looks to be playing Solitaire on her computer. Judging by the not-so-jolly look on her face, she seems to be losing. Beyond the desk is a short hallway leading to a wall with a sign that says “Santa” in blocky white letters, pointing a door set into the left wall.

The receptionist hears the tinkling bell set over the door, and feels the chilly wind blowing in from outside. Looking up at the visitors, she plasters on an obviously fake smile, absentmindedly minimizing her game window.

“Hello!” she says, once again clearly faking enthusiasm. “How may I help you? Let me guess, you’re all here to see Santa.”

“Yes!” Sora practically shrieks, startling everyone in the reception area. Azlyn thumps him hard on the back, and he hisses but calms down quickly.

“Oh great,” the elf receptionist mutters, all traces of false cheer gone. “Another one of _those_.”

“Uh, what my friend here is trying to say,” Telary explains, stepping up to the edge of the desk and looking down at the small woman, “is that we do indeed wish to see Santa. And, well, it’s sort of urgent, so…”

“Sir, are you taking a tone with me?” the receptionist asks in a voice that clearly indicates that she hates _tones_.

“Um, no, of course not!” the wizard defends himself, taking a nervous swallow. “I was just, uh…”

In the midst of his fumbling nervousness, Telary happens to look down to see yet another poster of Jack, this one with the word “banned” underlined about a dozen times with a thick black marker, and a goofy mustache drawn approximately where his nose should be.

“Look, we came a long way, and put up with a _lot_ of crap, all to see Santa,” Azlyn explains, her normal cadence qualifying as a _tone_ without any apparent effort. “All we want is an audience with the guy.”

The conversation descends suddenly into a glare-off, but the receptionist might as well be a fly trying to head-butt a tiger. After only a few seconds, she breaks her eyes away.

“Fine, fine,” she mutters. She’d roll her eyes, but they’re still a bit stunned from the force of Azlyn’s scorn. Reaching under the desk, the receptionist presses a hidden button, and the door at the end of the hallway glides open smoothly.

Telary opens his mouth to thank the elf, but Sora doesn’t stick around to hear it, bounding for the open door at top speed, eyes fixated on the warmth and crackling firelight glowing within. He can’t believe that after a lifetime of waiting, of wishing and hoping and ultimately doubting, finally he can see and hear a being revered worlds over. It truly is an honor.

The Keybearer’s feet don’t seem to get the memo on how momentous this occasion is, however, and he trips over Santa’s welcome mat, falling to the hardwood floor of Santa’s greatroom.

It isn’t the most auspicious of entrances.

“Oh my!” exclaims a deep, throaty, and undeniably _jolly_ voice, warmth radiating from every syllable as if it had emerged from the fireplace itself. “Are you all right, young man?”

Shaking his head to get it (mostly) clear, Sora rises to his feet once more, grinning sheepishly at Santa. The man looks just as he’s always been imagined, round and bearded and dressed all in red. He sits at a green chair in the middle of a modest-sized room, holly strung all around. All of the room’s molding is made of candy cane stripes, and in front of Santa’s chair sits a small table, several sheets of paper scattered across it.

“Uh, I’m fine, Santa,” Sora replies with a sheepish grin, dusting himself off a little bit. “Er, Mr. Santa, I mean, sir.”

“Oh, there’s no need to be so formal, my boy!” Santa assures the Keybearer, chuckling mildly. His belly shakes like, well, you know. Looking behind Sora, Santa spots Azlyn and Telary as they enter the room, and his smile gets even bigger. “Well, I assume you’re all here to see whether or not you’re on my Nice List?”

“Yes, Santa,” Telary confirms, barely containing the excitement in his voice. Sure, he’d been all about logic and restraint before, but seeing Santa actually in the flesh knocks him right back on his metaphorical childhood ass.

“Where is it?” Azlyn asks. “Is it one of those papers?” Reaching out, the knight snatches up a sheet and begins to read it. “My dearest Mrs. Claus, the fire burns hot in the greatroom, but nowhere near as hot as my passion for your sweet, sweet…”

“Okay!” Telary interrupts, snatching the paper out of his counterpart’s hands and handing it back to Santa. “Let’s just let Santa get his list out, shall we? No more reading anything!”

“I agree, Telary,” Santa says with a thankful nod. “Now, I know I have it somewhere… Ah yes, here it is.”

Reaching under his chair, Santa pulls out a long piece of paper, weathered with age and absolutely crammed with names written in black ink.

“Now then,” he says, turning to Sora and pushing up his spectacles, “what’s your name, my young friend?”

“Sora, sir!” The Keybearer’s excitement has returned full force, his grin almost exceeding the space he has on his face.

“Sora, Sora, Sora,” Santa mutters, quickly pulling up more list from under his chair like a magician with a handkerchief, the already-scanned sections forming a pile on the floor. “Ah, here it is, Sora of Destiny Islands! Well, it looks like you have quite a list of good deeds, my friend! Strong of heart, dedicated to his friends, chosen wielder of the Keyblade and savior of the universe…”

Sora beams as Santa reads through his laundry list of positive attributes, sparing a quick second to give gloat at Azlyn with his eyes. With all of this going for him, he’s a shoe-in for the Nice List!

“Oh, my,” Santa says suddenly, concern drawing over his kindly features. “Well, that is quite unfortunate…”

“What?” Sora begs, falling to his knees before the man in red. “What’s unfortunate?”

“Well, Sora, it seems that, seven years ago, you told everyone that you did not _believe_ in Santa Claus.”

Sora’s mouth drops open, all traces of joy draining from him. He can dimly hear Azlyn laughing in the background, but he’s far too ensconced in his sorrow and alarm to care.

“Ooh, that is some bad turn, Sora!” the knight manages through her mirth. “What about us, Santa? Azlyn and Telary of, uh, Hollow Bastion I guess.”

“Did you say Hollow Bastion?” Santa asks with a raised eyebrow. “I’m afraid I can’t find that anywhere on here…”

“Uh, try Disney Castle?” Telary suggests. He and Azlyn share a puzzled look, but his counterpart just shrugs in confusion.

“Ah, yes, here you both are!” Santa declares cheerily, quickly reading up on the pair. “Tell me something, are either of you familiar with the term ‘grand theft auto’?”

“Oh, come on!” Azlyn exclaims, throwing up her hands in frustration. This at least seems to have a positive effect on Sora, whose burden seems to ease a bit as he watches his companion fold her arms in tight and mumble angrily.

“Actually, that’s fair,” Telary sighs, patting her softly on the shoulder. She glowers at him of course, but he lets it slide off. “I apologize for these two, Santa. They were just really excited about meeting you, and obviously they thought it would go better.”

“Well, I’m afraid that what is written is what will be,” Santa apologizes, actually looking genuinely upset to have delivered the bad news. “I’m just sorry you came all the way here, only to hear that.”

“Actually Santa, we have another reason,” Sora explains, soberly calm now after his big let-down. “And, uh, I know this may not help with the whole list thing, but…”

A loud noise, the heavy _thoom_ of a door being slammed open, interrupts the Keybearer. It’s coming from the reception area, and the elf at the front desk barely gets out a few words of greeting before she lets out a startled shriek.

“Why, thank you very much ma’am!” the unmistakable, boisterous voice of Jack Skellington replies cheerfully. “I see no introduction is necessary, so I’ll just head back to see Sandy now.”

“That voice!” Santa murmurs nervously, his cheeks losing their rosiness. “It can’t be…!”

“This is bad,” Telary whines, wincing and shaking his head. “Very, _very_ bad!”

“Oh, no you won’t!” the receptionist cries out in the foyer. There’s a short, determined shout, then a loud _thunk_.

Jack makes a puzzled noise, and suddenly the sound of something being dragged across the wood-paneled floors of the hallway begins, growing ever louder as Jack strolls down the hallway. A few more determined shouts sound out from the receptionist, but the steady dragging continues until Jack appears in the doorway, a wide grin nearly splitting his skull in two. The receptionist, looking exhausted and nowhere near paid enough, clings desperately to his ankle.

“Hello there, Mr. Claws!” the Pumpkin King greets Ol’ Saint Nick, waving politely. “I see you’ve met my old friends!”

Santa turns to the offworlder trio with a stern expression.

“I’ve never seen this guy in my life!” Azlyn lies. Santa doesn’t seem fooled, so she tries a different tack. “Okay, I know him, but let the record show that I also hate his guts! Or, uh, whatever it is he has underneath that suit!”

“I told you to wait for us outside, Jack!” Telary admonishes the skeleton man, feeling an odd déjà vu.

Jack shrugs. “I got bored.”

“Babysitters!” Azlyn exclaims in abject frustration. “We are nothing but babysitters for the universe’s greatest morons!”

“Seems like it,” Sora agrees with a grim nod.

“Please, Sora,” Azlyn replies with a biting eye roll. “You’re like, Idiot Patient Zero!”

“Children, please!” Santa admonishes the pair, mere moments before Telary can. The man in red takes a deep breath before turns to Jack, his face impassive. “What are you doing here, Skellington? I thought I made it clear that you were to have nothing to do with Christmas.”

“Of course you did, Sandy,” Jack says, reaching back for his Chrismaween folder. “Which is why I’ve actually come to you with a proposal for an exciting new idea that…”

Before Jack can finish, the still-blazing fireplace suddenly swings hallway out of the wall with a loud _whoosh_ , revealing a passage beyond. Out of the short hall run a pair of elves, both looking terrified.

“Santa, come quick!” one of the elves pleads, bending over to catch his breath. “It’s the factory, they’re all over the place!”

“What’s all over the place, Nelson?” Santa asks worriedly, his thick white eyebrows knitting together. “What’s happened?”

“Some kind of odd creatures,” the other elf explains, shaking his head at the horribly fresh memory. “And we think there’s someone in the control booth of the present machine, too!”

“You guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Sora asks his companions, both of whom nod their agreement. “Heartless.”

“And probably Pete’s there too,” Azlyn reasons, frowning. “It’d be just like that big jerk to try and spoil Christmas!”

Santa comes to an alternate conclusion, fixing Jack with his most unjolly glare. “What kind of trouble have you brought this time, eh Skellington?”

“Sandy, I assure you that…” Jack begins to defend himself, only to peter off into silence as the man in red makes his way through the passage into the factory, telling the pair of elves to stay in the greatroom.

“Wow,” Sora says to the drooping Jack. “You must have really done a number on last Christmas, huh?”

“It’s not my fault that Lock, Shock, and Barrel followed me into Christmas Town!” Jack declares, throwing his hands up. “Though I guess I _am_ the one who left the door open. And put all those shrunken heads in children’s stockings.”

“Y’know, I never thought I’d be _glad_ to have been in stasis,” Azlyn remarks.

“You know what?” the receptionist interrupts, standing and brushing off her red dress. “I don’t care if it’s not six yet, I’m taking my break!” /

Sora, Jack, and company rush after Santa through the hidden corridor, ending up on a platform several feet above the main factory floor. It’s huge, easily as large as two football fields. Dominating most of the floor is a collection of conveyor belts, red plastic seats on swivels beside them at several points, large bins at the ends. At the far end is a large metal door that folds up to allow access to the shipping and receiving area, though the rooms are currently closed off from one another. Nearest the group, to the right, is a large red machine that covers the bottom half of the wall, several square openings feeding into the conveyor belts. Above that is a long red control booth with tinted glass. Movement is evident within it, however.

It is indeed Heartless that plague the toy factory, Soldiers, bright blue Aeroplanes, and Large Bodies menacing the elves, chasing them all about.

“Oh, Santa!” Jack exclaims in a pitiful whine, sinking to his knees and clutching to the edge of his red robe. “You have to believe that I had nothing to do with this! I’d never hurt anyone to achieve my goals!” He considers something for a second before adding, “Well, not _intentionally_.”

“We can handle this Santa!” Sora promises, stepping to the man in red’s side with his Keyblade in hand. “Leave these Heartless to us!”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees drawing her shield. “We’ll show you a Nice List!”

The pair leap as one, coming down heavily on a Large Body menacing three female elves. Sora goes to work against it, and Azlyn bounds over to a group of Soldiers chasing after more workers.

“It’s an honor to be your bodyguard, Sandy Claws!” Jack exclaims, straightening up and beaming at Santa before jumping to the floor below, eviscerating an Aeroplane on the way down.

“Bodyguard?” Santa mutters to himself, confused. Shaking it off, he turns to Telary, who looks ready to join his friends and Jack Skellington below. “Not so fast, my boy. I understand your engineering skills are quite advanced.”

“Well, I guess,” the wizard replies sheepishly, shrugging. “I’m no Chip and Dale, but…”

“Excellent,” Santa interrupts, unwilling to waste any more time. “Come with me to the Presenter-5000’s control booth then. I may need your help.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Within the confines of the booth, Shock finishes tightening the ropes holding a pair of elfin workers, both knocked out cold. Giggling, she turns to her mistress.

“They’re secured, Maleficent!” she reports with a smart salute. It’s been ages since she’s had this much fun, and the jade-skinned witch has appointed her as lieutenant, the position Oogie Boogie had always given to Lock.

“Very good, my dear,” Maleficent replies, briefly looking up from the control panel of Santa’s present-making machine. “You perform your task well.”

“Whatever,” Lock scoffs, miffed about losing his usual second-in-command position to his female compatriot. He sits at a red plastic swivel chair by Maleficent, wistfully looking down at the havoc the Heartless are wreaking below. “Why do we have to stay up here anyway? I’d rather be down there smashing stuff!”

“Yeah!” Barrel agrees, poking his head out of the depths of the control panel, where he’s been trying to figure how to rewire the Presenter-5000 to Maleficent’s specifications. Despite his usual dim-wittedness, the boy in the skeleton mask has a surprisingly intuitive grasp of machines.

“And expose yourself to that wretched Sora and his band?” Maleficent sneers. “No, dear children, you are no longer errand boys to that odious Oogie. Stooping to physical confrontations with hero-types is no longer your realm of concern.”

“Yeah, dummy!” Shock admonishes her devil-masked friend, smacking him in the back of the head for his audacity to question their mistress. “We’re _so_ over tussling with do-gooders!”

At that moment, the door to the booth slams open, Telary and Santa entering. Both of them are shocked at who they see, though Telary’s primary sense of alarm concerns Maleficent, and Santa’s the prankster trio.

For their part, Lock, Shock, and Barrel seem rather frightened by the presence of Santa as well. Maleficent feels no such compunction, however, merely fixing the jolly old soul with a haughty glare.

“Ah, Santa Claus I presume,” the witch says with a slight bow of her horned head. “And one of Sora’s foolish lapdogs as well. It seems that for me, Christmas has come early!”

Raising her staff high, Maleficent calls upon her magic, green flame wreathing her for a short moment before shooting out at Telary and Santa in a roaring wave of heat and fury. The jade-skinned woman laughs as it approaches the pair, the sound high and keening and quite mad.

Telary is too stunned to think of a counter, but Santa doesn’t let the mystical fire faze him. Reaching out a black-gloved hand, palm outstretched, he conjures forth a gust of icy energy with his own magic. When heat and cold meet, Santa’s power proves too strong for Maleficent’s, and the fire fades away with hardly a trace of steam left behind.

“Whoa!” Lock, Shock, and Barrel exclaim simultaneously, awed to see their newest hero so easily countered.

“Wow,” Telary breathes out, staring at Santa in shock. The wizard can scarcely think of a time he’s seen such a potent display of magical prowess.

“It seems I have underestimated my opponent,” Maleficent admits, light traces of worry creeping into her voice. “Clearly I must consider a new tack. Children, remember where I instructed you to go if our initial efforts failed. Away with you!”

Suddenly Maleficent’s form begins to turn translucent, as if she’s slowly fading away. In moments she is gone, and the prankster trio take their cue to leave as well, dashing through an outside facing window at the far end of the control booth.

Telary begins to run after them, but stops when Santa holds out a hand.

“Let them go for now, Telary,” the man in red orders, his mouth set tight in anger. “You and I have another task at hand.”

“What’s that, Santa?” After taking a moment to rouse and free the captured elves, who immediately rush out of the booth, the wizard follows the holiday ruler over to the Presenter’s control panel.

“This machine is designed to take any item a good child has requested of me and create it from scratch,” Santa explains, rubbing his long beard as his eyes rake over the many complicated buttons, wires, and readouts. “It’s then deposited out of the tubes of the machine itself, onto the conveyor belts where the elves put the final touches on and wrap it.”

“That sounds pretty sweet, Santa,” Telary says appreciatively, awed at the combination of magic and technology. “But what has that got to do with the Heartless?”

Santa grins at Telary, a touch of mischievousness in his grandfatherly features. “If we can reverse the process, then instead of turning thin air into presents and spitting them out…”

“Then we could make the machine pull the Heartless in and turn them into thin air!” Telary exclaims, immediately gaining even more respect for Ol’ Saint Nick, a feat he’d thought impossible.

“Exactly right, my boy!” Santa replies with a hearty chuckle, reaching out to slap the redheaded wizard on the back. “It’s such a shame you went along with stealing that Gummi ship, my boy. Other than that, you have one of the most exemplary records of Niceness I’ve seen in many years!”

Telary grimaces at the mention of his Nice List killing deed. “Um, Mr. Claus, could you maybe stop mentioning the list thing? It’s kind of bringing this moment down for me.”

“Say no more, Telary. I won’t speak of it again.”

For the next few minutes the pair work on the machine, Telary occasionally glancing up and peering down through the glass at his friends, who still struggle against the Heartless horde below.

The wizard stops work immediately as he notices Azlyn take a bad-looking hit from a Large Body’s fist, the knight careening across the factory floor to land in a pile of wrapping paper.

“Azlyn!” he cries out, though she cannot hear him through the booth’s thick glass. He presses his face against it, teeth digging sharply into his lip.

Thankfully, the knight rises groggily, shakes her head to clear it, and launches herself back into the fight, ramming so hard into the Large Body with her shield that it falls backward, crushing several Soldiers that had been menacing Jack.

Seeing that his counterpart is okay, Telary heaves a relieved sigh and backs away from the glass. Looking to his left, he sees Santa looking up at him with a knowing smile.

“You really do care for that girl, don’t you?” the man in red remarks. “Your feelings for her seem rather special.”

“What?” Telary replies, flustered by the odd turn of conversation. “I, uh, of course I care about Azlyn. She’s my best friend!”

“Oh, I think it may be a little more than that.” Santa digs back into the electrical panel, crisscrossing a few wires.

Telary sighs, completing his own work. “Yes, I suppose so. I mean, she’s tough and loyal, and a lot kinder than she tries to come off as.” A dreamy look crosses his face as he speaks of the girl, but he quickly shakes it off once he realizes it’s there. “It’s just that, well… It might not be such a good idea. If we, y’know. And besides, I hardly think she feels anything like that about me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Santa chuckles, replacing the control panel carefully. “Remember, I can see everything Telary. Even things others can’t necessarily see for themselves.” He lets that hang in the air for a moment, then turns back to the task at hand. “Alright, I think everything’s ready. Let my workers and your friends know what’s about to happen, Telary.”

The wizard grabs a small microphone and presses an intercom button on the console. “Everybody with a heart, listen to me! Hold on to something, things are about to get a little, uh, sucky.”

Telary watches as Sora, Jack, and Azlyn break off their battles to secure themselves, despite their confused expressions. Jack grabs onto a conveyor belt while Sora plants his Keyblade firmly in the factory floor, Azlyn holding on to his waist. All around, elves make similar arrangements to hold their ground.

With everyone secure, Santa inputs a few commands and throws a switch, activating the reversed Presenter-5000. The loud noise of moving air penetrates even the thick glass of the booth, and in only moments Heartless are flying through the air, caught in a blast they cannot escape, hurling toward the dark tubes of the reversed machine.

Sora and his allies hold firm for the long minute it takes to sweep the Heartless up, and within thirty seconds Santa kills the machine.

Down on the floor, Sora dismisses the Keyblade as Azlyn unwraps herself off his back.

“That was so cool!” the Keybearer exclaims loudly, accidentally exacerbating the pained headaches of the elves who’d just been attacked. “I’ll bet Telary did some of his magic on that machine. Well, not _literal_ magic, but you know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees with a soft smile. “I definitely know what you mean.”

“Now hear this everyone,” Santa’s voice comes over the intercom, reassuringly merry. “I know that attack was terrifying, especially to those of you who aren’t used to such danger, but I assure you that everything is fine. It’s going to take a bit of time and effort to recalibrate the Presenter, but I assure you that we won’t let this incident endanger Christmas!”

A great cheer rises up from the elves on the floor, all except one standing very near Azlyn and Sora. He’s obviously an older fellow, the pinched, just-sucked-a-lemon look he wears highlighting his many wrinkles. He’s dressed in an older style of uniform, and leans on a wooden cane.

“Aw, what’s it matter!” he exclaims sourly. “It’s not like kids these days even appreciate the _real_ meaning of Christmas. To them it’s all about me, me, _me_! Times sure have changed since I was a young lad on the line!”

“Uh, wow,” Sora remarks, looking at the bitter old elf in shock. He receives an unfriendly scowl in return.

“I thought elves were all ‘tra-la-la’ and happy and stuff,” Azlyn adds.

“Oh, that’s just Ol’ Arnold,” Santa says, approaching the pair with Telary by his side. “He’s getting to that age where elves traditionally start to lose their enthusiasm for the holiday. It happens to a different elf every few years, but they always end up seeing the light.”

“Harumph,” Arnold says, a noise that none of the offworlders have ever actually heard a person make before outside of a children’s book. “Maybe those other doddering fools ‘see the light’, but not me! No sir, I am quite soured on the supposed joys of Christmas!”

“Alright, Arnold,” Santa chuckles. “Whatever you say.” Arnold walks away muttering under his breath, and Santa turns back to Sora and his friends. “Now then, the real problem here is that of Maleficent and those three troublemakers!”

“Maleficent was here?” Sora asks Telary incredulously, who nods in confirmation. “Wow, I guess ruining Christmas was too important for her to just send Pete.”

“Yeah, _and_ she had Lock, Shock, and Barrel with her,” Telary adds.

“Did you say Lock, Shock, and Barrel?” Jack butts in, coming over quickly from where he’d been examining the Presenter. “I assure you, Sandy, this time they didn’t come with me, I swear!”

“Be that as it may,” Santa says, giving Jack a hard look, “it seems Maleficent has fled, but the children must be punished for their misdeeds! Bring them back here, they’re going to get… a _lecture_.”

Everyone but the man in red shivers at a sudden chill.

“Uh, actually Sandy,” Jack says, clearing his throat and reaching again for his Chrismaween folder, “I had something that I really thought I should talk to you about…”

“It’ll have to wait, Jack!” Santa snaps, startling Sora, Azlyn, and Telary with his harsh tone. “I have a lot of work to do to get things back on track here!”

Jack cringes at the bearded man’s words. “Um, yessir, Sandy. We’ll apprehend them right away, Mr. Claws, I promise!”

“See that you keep that promise, Skellington.”

As Santa walks away, Jack droops, his long arms hanging sadly at his sides.

“Sorry Santa snapped at you like that,” Sora apologizes, looking up at the Pumpkin King with concern. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Jack gives the Keybearer a weak smile. “Oh, I suppose.”

“C’mon,” Azlyn says, fighting off a pang of actual empathy for _Jack Skellington_. “Let’s catch those little pranksters. That oughta cheer you up!”

**KH-KH-KH**

“So, uh, Miss Maleficent,” Shock pipes up as the walking bath tub carries her and allies to the rendezvous point, “what exactly are we doin’ here?”

“Yeah,” Lock chimes in. “There’s nothing here but a bunch of rubble.”

They stand, of course, at the former sight of Oogie Boogie’s mansion, a vast field of black dirt out of which the boogieman’s colossal mansion had once climbed high into the sky. Now there’s nothing here but pieces of the manor, scattered about and hollow. The moon shines down, and somewhere in the night there is a mournful howl.

“Perhaps to your eyes, children,” Maleficent says with unmistakable condescension. “But my advanced senses tell me that something else lingers here, something far more immaterial. The very spirit of Oogie Boogie.”

“Uh, he’s dead!” Shock points out, momentarily forgoing hero worship. “Jack and that kid spilled all his bugs, then there was some weird stuff with the house, and then his ghost left. We were watching from the hill.”

Maleficent smiles down at the pranksters. “I suppose to you three it would seem as if Oogie Boogie was no more. But, I assure you, he lingers here still. At the end of his miserable life, Oogie Boogie allowed Darkness into himself that he had no way of controlling. It consumed him, showed him the fear he thought himself to be immune from. I watched him as well, I saw how he begged that pitiful Sora for relief.

“Sora thought that by destroying the dark orbs, he left Oogie at peace. But I assure you, that was not the case. The Darkness he wrapped himself in preserved his mind, though I assume Sora’s actions put him in a kind of stasis.” The witch’s grin grows wickeder. “All it takes is the proper spell, and I can awaken him once more.”

“But Jack ripped out his bugs!” Barrel points out. “Without them, what’s he gonna come back in?”

“Uh, hi there Maleficent,” Pete cuts in, approaching his mistress and the pranksters with a small glass jar in his hands, holes poked in the lid. “I got that, uh, thing you wanted.”

Inside the jar is a small green insect, utterly unremarkable. Looking up at Maleficent, it chirps once before falling silent.

“This, my children, is where I shall store Oogie Boogie’s consciousness,” the jade-skinned woman announces. “I understand it is very similar to the creature that used to house him.”

“Yeah, okay, you got one bug,” Lock says, unimpressed. “But Oogie was made out of a lotta bugs in a sack. Where are we gonna get that many before Jack and those guys find us?”

“We don’t need insects, fool,” Maleficent snaps, sending Lock cowering. “The ‘brain bug’ of Oogie Boogie is capable of much more potent feats of control. Even organisms much larger than itself.”

“Ooooooh!” Shock says delightedly, suddenly catching the elder witch’s drift. “Oh, you really _are_ my hero!”

“What’s goin’ on, Maleficent?” Pete asks, severely unhappy to be kept out of the loop. “Why are you lookin’ at me all funny like that?”

“Because there is no other option, dear Peter,” Maleficent says with a cunning smile. “I’m afraid that you’re going to have to take in a… houseguest, as it were.”

Pete swallows grimly, looking down at the soon to be Oogie-powered bug in his hands. He’s begun to work out his mistress’s plan, and he does not like it one bit.


	20. Saving Chrismaween

“At least they left us a trail,” Telary notes, jogging along behind his friends as they climb the snowy hill back to the portal tree grove. Tracking the troublemakers has proved easy, the group simply following the footprints left in the ground by the pranksters’ bathtub transport. “That was convenient of them.”

“A little too convenient if you ask me,” Azlyn chimes in with her usual cynicism, a marked contrast to her cheery seasonal attire. “If Maleficent is here, then something even bigger than usual must be up.”

“Or maybe she just finally got tired of Pete’s screw-ups,” Sora suggests. He smiles at a recent memory. “Remember all that ‘treasure’ he grabbed from the Cave of Wonders?”

The trio giggle, but Jack only sighs dramatically, laying what chin he has on one hand. He’s been this way since they left the workshop, but so far no one has wanted to say anything. It seems the Pumpkin King needs a shoulder to lean on, and once again Telary is the only one tall enough to offer it. Metaphorically _and_ literally.

“Santa really upset you, didn’t he?” the wizard asks sympathetically. “I’ll bet nobody has ever talked to you like that before.”

“Maybe someone _should_ have,” Azlyn mutters to herself. Thankfully, Jack doesn’t register the comment.

“I just wish he’d have given me a chance,” Jack says, shrugging helplessly. “All I’d need is a few minutes to convince him that Chrismaween is…”

“Just a backdoor scheme for you to take control of Christmas,” Azlyn interrupts, this time making sure that she’s heard by the Pumpkin King. He turns to her, looking like she’s just asked him to solve a difficult math problem. “You say you’re over it, but that’s not the case at all. You just gave it a different name and date to try and justify it in your mind.

“But the thing is, Chrismaween is a terrible idea. Halloween and Christmas are two very different creatures, but both provide their own unique joys for people all over the world. By trying to cram them both into a single day, you’re only detracting something huge from each holiday. And in the end, Jack, Halloween is what you were _made_ for! That’s why you’re the Pumpkin King, because Halloween is in your blood, your heart, your _soul_! Don’t you see Jack, _you’re_ the Pumpkin King!”

For a moment all is quiet, the three other members of the party staring at Azlyn, who had at some point found a rock to stand on for her address.

“And besides Sora,” Jack says to the Keybearer, turning away from Azlyn as if he hadn’t even heard a word she’d just said, “if you do this for Santa, I’m sure he’d be willing to rethink that naughty list business from all those years ago!”

“Do you really think so?” Sora replies eagerly, falling into step beside Jack as they stroll the last few feet up the sloping hill.

Azlyn heaves a huge sigh, jumping down from her perch to land in the snow below. She stumbles a bit, but Telary is there to catch her, holding firmly to her arm as she steadies herself.

“Unbelievable!” the knight rages, kicking up a mound of powder. “It’s like he didn’t even hear me!” She shakes her head and scoffs. “And it was such a great speech too. I used words I didn’t even know I knew!”

Telary shrugs in reply, awkwardly patting his counterpart’s back. “I agree, it _was_ a great speech. But Jack is pretty hard to get through to.”

“I’ll tell you something right now, Tel, things are gonna be different when _I’m_ mayor of Halloween Town!”

“What?”

Azlyn shrugs, starting to follow Jack and Sora up the slope. “Just an idea I’m kicking around.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Aww, Maleficent,” Pete grumbles, trembling as he looks down at the bug in his gloved hand. “Do I have ta?”

A light smile touches his mistress’s face, a sure sign of bad things to come. “Why, of course not!” she declares, the sarcasm evident even to the dim cat. “There are many ways I could think of for you to further my goals.” A thin aura of green surrounds the witch, the children laughing as they watch. “Perhaps as a Heartless…?”

With that threat hanging in the air, Pete takes one last deep breath, gulps, and swallows his pride. He holds his cupped hand to his nose, closes his eyes, and inhales the green brain bug into a nostril.

For a long moment there is only silence, Maleficent and her young protégés watching with interest. Pete’s entire body tenses, awaiting the inevitable sublimation of his willpower. Nothing seems to come, however, and one moment of anticipation stretches into several.

“Why isn’t anything happening?” Lock whines to Maleficent, lifting up his red devil mask to reveal a childish pout.

“You said this was gonna bring back Oogie Boogie!” Barrel chimes in with an accusatory finger at the jade-skinned woman.

Maleficent scowls down at the little mongrels that have dared to question her. For the first time, neither of the boys back off.

“I really hate to say this, Maleficent,” Pete admits sheepishly, unwisely managing to redirect his mistress’s anger at him. “But I gotta agree with the kids here. I just don’t feel… _WHOA_!”

With only the surprised exclamation as a warning, Pete’s head snaps back, staring up at the sky as his entire body shakes with intense tremors. He suddenly stops, his head slowly moving forward until he’s staring at the group assembled before him, a wicked look on his face that seems decidedly un-Petelike. Not to mention a faint green glow to his eyes.

“Well, well, _well_.” Lock, Shock, and Barrel gasp out loud as the voice of their former boss issues from Pete’s mouth. “What do we have here?”

Oogie looks his new body up and down, holding Pete’s arms out to inspect them. He makes fists with his hands, then lowers them to his ample belly.

“A brand new body, just for me?” Oogie asks Maleficent, grinning broadly. “Why Maleficent, you shouldn’t have!”

“You are correct, Oogie,” the witch replies coldly. “But, due to the unique circumstances we find ourselves in, I’m willing to overlook your attempt at betrayal.”

“Well, what did you expect, lady?” Oogie shoots back, hands on his hips. “You did recruit me because of my villainous inclination, after all.” He gives the body he’s borrowing. “Besides, it seems you got your revenge with this ridiculous body you picked out for me to wear. I don’t even _want_ to imagine what the face that goes with it looks like!”

“Hey!” Pete’s indignant voice claws its way out of his mouth. “At least I’m not some dirty burlap stuffed with creepy crawlies!”

“Peter,” Maleficent says sternly, scaring her minion’s consciousness back into the depths of his mind.

“Here ya go, Mr. Oogie!” Lock pipes up, reaching into the tub and pulling out a small burlap mask with two eyeholes and one for his mouth. The boy tosses it up to his returned idol, who pulls it securely over his borrowed face.

“Now that that’s taken care of,” Oogie says, adjusting the burlap slightly, “what’s so important that you dragged me back up from the afterlife?”

“Do you recall Sora, Azlyn, and Telary?” Maleficent asks.

“I sure do!” Oogie replies fiercely, clenching his fists. “Those offworld do-gooders teamed up with Jack Skellington to ruin my nefarious plan to rule Halloween Town. Why, if I ever get my hands on them… Hey, whaddya know, I finally _do_ have actual hands to get on them!”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t get used to it,” Maleficent says. “That body is only a temporary housing. We’ll worry about your permanent residence once Christmas Town is ours.”

“Christmas Town, you say?” Oogie blurts incredulously. “I’ve heard of it before, but I always figured it was just a rumor…”

“Oh, I can assure you that Christmas Town is quite real.” Maleficent waves her hand, opening a dark portal in the air. “All you need to know is that Jack Skellington loves it, and soon it shall be ours!”

Oogie lets out a triumphant belly laugh. “Only been alive again for ‘bout two minutes, and already I’m involved in a shady plot that’s sure to ruin ol’ Pumpkinhead’s day. I love it!”

“Oh, this is great!” Barrel proclaims joyously. “We’re finally gonna get to see Mr. Oogie work again!”

“Not so fast,” Maleficent interrupts. “I need you three to remain here in this world, to distract the heroes that are no doubt already in pursuit.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Lock asks.

“I shall leave a Heartless behind for you,” Maleficent answers. “Use it as you see fit, but make sure that Sora and his cohorts are kept distracted.”

“Oh, don’t worry Miss Maleficent,” Shock assures the jade-skinned woman with a delighted giggle, “we know just what to do!”

**KH-KH-KH**

By the time the pranksters’ trail begins to fade, Moonlight Hill looms in the distance. As Jack and the trio of offworlders pass by, the last small imprints fade into smooth ground.

“Lost ‘em,” Sora sighs, kicking frustratedly at the ground and stirring up a small dust cloud that hovers in the air for a moment before further obscuring the faded prints.

“They must have started covering them up purposely,” Telary theorizes, taking a knee and inspecting further. “Otherwise they’d be getting fresher as we went.”

“So now we have nothing?” Azlyn laments, scowling at the ground as if it is complicit in the cover up.

“I wouldn’t say that, fellows,” Jack speaks up, drawing everyone’s attention.

“You’re right!” Sora exclaims, visibly perking up. “Guys, remember when we followed them last year? This is near that tunnel to Oogie’s Manor. They must have gone there!”

“Of course!” Telary agrees, rising to his full height. “Why didn’t I think of that? They must have gone back to the manor grounds.”

“Didn’t we blow that place up?” Azlyn asks. “I remember a collapsing building, but then again maybe there are just so many I’ve seen that they’re starting to bleed together.”

“Those are all good notions, friends,” Jack says. “But actually, I was just referring to the fact that Lock, Shock, and Barrel are flying through the air inside a cage being carried by a giant flying Heartless.”

Shocked and puzzled, the trio look up to confirm that indeed a giant Heartless is flying across the sky, carrying a cage beneath it that holds the troublemaking children inside.

“What’s goin’ on, _losers_!” Lock calls down mockingly, pushing up his red mask and sticking his tongue out at the heroes below. “Guess where we’re going with this sweet Heartless Maleficent gave us?”

“Rhymes with mestroying salloween brown!” Barrel calls down, barely getting the nonsensical words out through his ecstatic giggles.

“Mestroying, huh?” Azlyn murmurs to herself, scratching her chin in thought. “What rhymes with…? Hey!”

The knight watches as her companions rush for the curled top of Moonlight Hill, leaving her behind in the dust. Letting out and indignant noise, she follows after them. As she catches up, the Prison Keeper is already pulling away, putting distance between its cage and the top of the hill.

It moves fast, but not fast enough to escape Sora, who puts on a last second burst of speed and leaps at the creature, just barely managing to hang on to the bottom of the cage, digging his white-gloved claws into the metal. Jack attempts a similar jump but misses, falling several feet to the base of the hill. Telary screeches to a halt at the last second, only barely stopping before Azlyn barrels into him at top speed, sending both of them off the hill to land in a heap.

Back up in the air, Lock and Barrel are doing their best to weaken Sora’s grip, stomping at his fingers with their small feet. All of Sora’s reflexes are at work, constantly sending his hands dodging around the determined stomps.

Finally the Heartless proper, a huge metallic creature with two long arms and a gaping maw that could put a garbage truck to shame, begins to get fed up with the rattling in its cage. It stops in midair and swings its bottom forward, hurtling the cage up towards its mouth. It repeats the process several times, gaining momentum with each swing. With a last powerful jerk, Sora loses his grip, hurtling up into the air before falling back towards the waiting jaws of the beast.

Sora lands inside Prison Keeper’s open mouth, quickly assessing the situation and deciding he doesn’t wish to be chomped. Focusing for a moment, he reaches the magic inside and calls forth a blast of freezing energy, hitting right at the joints of the Heartless’s mouth. Frozen, the jaw stops mid-chomp, putting all its effort into breaking the ice and smashing the Keybearer.

Taking advantage, Sora rises and dives out of the open mouth, turning back to try and find some purchase on Prison Keeper’s face. For mere moments that seem much longer to Sora than they actually are, his claws scratch at the smooth metallic face of the creature, desperate for purchase. They find none, and the Keybearer falls, his arms and legs flailing as he hurtles to the ground.

He manages to control the fall, flipping himself over and noticing a metal weathervane sticking out a rooftop below. He also notices that the Prison Keeper’s thin metal hands are positioned as if holding an invisible globe, an actual sphere of orange-hot energy expanding inside.

Reaching out, the Keybearer grabs at the weathervane, wrenching his arm but managing to hold on. Just as his feet hit the roof tiles, the Prison Keeper raises its hands and throws down, the burning sphere falling towards Guillotine Plaza like a meteor from space.

Sora doesn’t find that acceptable, summoning the Keyblade in his left hand and hurtling it forward with all his might. With any normal sword it would be a useless gesture, but the mystical Keyblade spins in a perfect pinwheel through the air, reflecting the light from the deadly sphere. It intercepts the energy head on, deflecting it upwards towards the creature that threw it down.

The sphere hits Prison Keeper in its torso, knocking it back through the air. It staggers drunkenly for a moment, arms swaying uselessly at its sides, then falls to the ground along a similar trajectory to the energy sphere.

Sora doesn’t see much beyond that, as suddenly his weight proves too much for the weathervane to bear. It snaps off at the base, and Sora falls back to land flat on the roof. He begins to slide, momentum carrying towards the side and the steep drop off that awaits.

The boy rolls over and examines his option, managing to successfully spot his second fall-related miracle solution of the past minute. It takes the barest fraction of a second to adjust his position before he hurtles over the edge and plummets towards the stones below.

Or that would be his fate, if it weren’t for the conveniently placed Chrismaween ramp. As Sora rams into the wooden planks he has a momentary flash of regret, before reminding himself that the other landing option would have hurt quite a bit more.

The Keybearer turns over in a roll, halting himself before he can slide all the way down and crush his skull against the Sleigher(TM Pending), thoroughly negating the usefulness of landing on the ramp. Not far away, there’s a loud crash that he assumes his Prison Keeper landing in Guillotine Square.

Most parts of him just want to lay against the ramp for a while, catch his breath after the near death experience. But once again his heart proves strongest, and he rises to his feet, shaking off his weariness.

The Heartless lays in the center of the plaza, surrounded by a puddle of fountain goo. Its head is riddled with dents of various depths, and one of its arms is twisted at a truly grotesque angle.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel seem more or less fine however, though they wobble and stumble and nearly fall to the ground as they claw their way out of the mangled cage. At the sight of Sora, the trio perk up remarkably quickly, rushing off towards the square’s exit and screeching like banshees.

They don’t get far, however, before running into the legs of Azlyn and Telary, who glare down at the little menaces sternly. Jack looms behind them, looking scarier than Sora can ever remember him being during Halloween/Chrismaween hijinks.

He makes his way over to his friends and their captives, absentmindedly running Prison Keeper through as he goes. A loud sound halfway between a sigh and gears grinding creaks out of the Heartless’s mouth as it dissolves into shadow Darkness and a floating pink heart.

“Do you realize how much trouble you’ve gotten me into with Sandy?” Jack is yelling down at the trio of children. “ _Again_? Why is it that every time things go wrong for me at Christmas Town, you’re to blame? I have half a mind to put Dr. Finkelstein in charge of your punishment for this stunt!”

“And that’s not even the worst part,” Azlyn chimes in, arms folded smugly across her chest. “We’re taking you back to Christmas Town, and Santa is going to give you _such_ a lecture…”

At the mention of Santa, Lock and Shock break out into a fit of giggles. Everyone else, including Barrel, look at the pair in confusion.

“Uh, what are you laughing about?” Sora asks warily, eyes darting back and forth across the square just in case of another Heartless attack.

“Oh, nothin’ much,” Lock answers through his mirth. “It’s just funny that you think you can threaten us with that weak old man!”

“Weak?” Telary scoffs, frowning down at the kids. “You were in the control booth when he used that, that _Blizzaja_ spell. His powers are super strong, and something tells me the stern lectures are worse by several orders of magnitude.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Shock says with an exaggerated eye roll, her hand fluttering in a ‘whatever’ gesture. “He still isn’t gonna be a match for Miss Maleficent _and_ Oogie Boogie!”

“Oogie Boogie!” Sora, Jack, Azlyn, and Telary all blurt out at the same time, their unpleasant memories of the bag of bugs assaulting their minds.

“Oogie is dead,” Jack says, shaking his head. “I crushed that disgusting bug that housed his mind last year.”

“And _I_ banished his Darkness-saturated soul,” Sora adds. “There’s no way he could come back from that. You’ve got to be lying.”

“Jack!” Sally cries out in fear and alarm, all eyes swiveling to the patchwork girl as she rushes into the square. Her expression is just as full of terror as her screams.

“Uh oh,” Azlyn whispers to Telary.

“Oh, Jack, you have to come quick!” Dr. Finkelstein’s creation implores the Pumpkin King. “I was just… I was talking to Santa in the Hinterlands, and then there was this, this _man_ who ran up and knocked him to the ground. I, I think Santa went unconscious…”

“This man,” Telary asks the frightened girl cautiously, trying his best not to spook her any more than she already is. “What did he look like?”

Sally shakes her head. “I didn’t get a great look, he just came to fast, but he was big. And, and he had some kind of mask on. I think it, um, it sort of looked like a piece of burlap. That’s all I can remember, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it Sally,” Jack reassures the girl, pulling her into a tight embrace and letting her cry into his pinstripe jacket. “You were surprised, it happened fast, you did the best you could.”

“A big guy with a sack for a head,” Azlyn notes, grimacing as if the very words leave a bad taste in her mouth. “Sounds like Oogie Boogie to me. ‘Cept he was _made_ of a sack.”

Sora looks back down to ask Lock, Shock, and Barrel more questions, but finds only empty pavement. He looks up and spies the troublemakers fleeing down the street, but decides to let them run. After all, they can’t hide forever.

“I know you want to comfort Sally, Jack,” Telary says, placing a hand on the Pumpkin King’s shoulder, “but with Maleficent _and_ Oogie to deal with, I think Santa is going to need our help.”

For a long moment Jack looks stricken with indecision, looking from the wizard to Sally with a crestfallen expression. He knows what he should do, but the choice is a difficult one to follow through on.

Sally makes it easier, brushing aside her tears and pushing Jack away gently. “You have to go, Jack,” she tells the master of terror resolutely. “Santa needs you, I’ll be alright in a minute.”

“Oh, Sally,” Jack sighs, giving the patchwork girl a weak smile that she returns shyly. They let the moment last for a few seconds before Jack turns back to the offworlders. “All right, bodyguards, it sounds like Santa needs our help now more than ever. We’ve got to make for Christmas Town with all haste!”

The skeleton man begins a forthright, determined march down the street, and the trio watch in confusion.

“Uh, Jack,” Sora says cautiously, “Christmas Town is the _other_ way.”

“I’m perfectly aware of that, dear Sora,” Jack replies, not breaking his stride for a second. “But we have to get there quickly, right?” He finally stops and turns back to his companions, a devilish smile across his face. “Well, I’ve just have an idea to that effect.”

“Oh, great,” Azlyn says with an eye roll. “Because _these_ always go so well.”

Jack only chuckles in reply, resuming his march. “I don’t know, Azlyn. I think you might actually enjoy this one.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Well?” Maleficent asks, gazing imperiously down her nose at Oogie-in-Pete. “Can you do it?”

The witch and her bag-headed ally stand in the control booth of Santa’s factory once more, hovering over the open control panel. On the factory floor below, Santa lies atop a conveyor belt, his arms tied down with a thick rope. He’s unconscious, a large lump forming on his head where Oogie had bashed him during capture.

“Can I do it?” the spirited boogeyman laughs, the sound still slightly unnerving Maleficent as it emerges from her loyal servant’s throat. He pushes his borrowed face out of the innards of the Presenter-5000 and gives her a grin beneath the burlap mask. “Oh, I can do it, honey. No problem. One Heartless making machine, coming… Uh, coming… Er.”

“What is it?” the jade-skinned woman asks coldly, one eyebrow arched. Pete’s body droops and freezes, swaying slightly from side to side as a low sound of confusion issues from its throat. “Oogie? _Oogie Boogie_!”

“What!” Boogie snaps, as if he’s just been awoken from a deep sleep. He looks around, taking a long moment to get his bearings. “Oh right, that’s what I was doing!”

“It seems there is some conflict inside of you,” Maleficent observes as Oogie turns back to the complex wiring inside the Presenter. “Obviously Pete is fighting back against your occupancy.” The witch smirks. “I had no idea he had that in him. Perhaps I don’t give that fat oaf enough credit.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him you said that,” Oogie says, his voice echoing around inside the control panel.

“Do that,” Maleficent informs her partner coldly, “and I can assure you won’t need another body after I’m done with you.”

“A land of eternal winter,” Oogie chuckles to himself, “and you are still the coldest thing for miles, baby.”

“Your flattery is wasted on me, bug man. No matter what body you’re in, I still find you utterly repulsive.”

“Ooh, big loss Dragon Lady! For my part, I wouldn’t touch you with a thirty-nine and a half foot… YEOWCH!”

There’s a loud sizzle of electrical current, and Oogie rears back out of the control panel, smoke rising from Pete’s hands.

“You see what happens when you waste your focus on banter, you imbecile!” Maleficent loudly scolds her belligerent ally. “I hope you’ve learned something from this, you…”

“M-M-Maleficent,” Pete stammers, in control of his own body once again, if only for a moment. “Oogie, he, he… He…!”

Maleficent gazes at her minion in puzzlement, noting the way his entire body is shaking, as if resisting some great force.

“He’s gonna betray you again!” Pete finally manages to blurt. “I saw inside his mind, trying to tell ya, but… But… Aaaaah!”

“Funny,” Oogie chuckles, in control once again. “And here I thought hiccups were hard to keep inside!”

“So, this is how you choose to thank me?” Maleficent rages, her angry green and yellow aura surrounding her. “I return you to _life_ , and you think you can fool _me_? Me, this Mistress of all…”

“Yappin’!” Oogie interjects, letting out a deep belly laugh. “Good gravy, woman, do you ever shut your green jaw?”

As a matter of fact, Maleficent’s jaw is shut tightly at the moment, teeth clenched in fury. She keeps that up much longer and the grind guard she puts in at night is going to be pretty much useless.

“That is _it_!” she screeches, fire flaring up behind her, casting a yellow and green glow over every surface in the booth. “Oogie Boogie, you are going to…!”

What is to become of Oogie is never revealed, as at that moment two skeletal reindeer slam their large horns into the window surrounding the upper level of Santa’s factory, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces. There’s another loud sound of impact as the body of the Sleigher(TM Pending) crashes through.

The moment seems frozen in time, paused long enough to take in the reaction of each Sleigher passenger and its driver. Sora’s eyes are wide with wonder and excitement, his mouth split in a huge grin. Azlyn is halfway between terror and excitement, nervously smiling despite the fear that clutches her heart. Telary lets himself feel the fear, his head buried in Sora’s shoulder and his eyes tightly shut. Like Sora, Jack grins, though his is more of a debonair half-grin, the kind you might find on a cocky secret agent in a firefight.

The moment passes and time resumes its course, the reindeer pulling the Sleigher turning sharply to crash through yet another window, plunging head on into the control booth with their cargo not far behind.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary roll out, springing to their feet with weapons at the ready. Jack takes a moment longer, having to let go of the reins, but quickly joins his friends in opposition to the villains across from them.

“Well,” Maleficent remarks coolly, her flaming aura dying as a narrow grin twitches across her face. “It seems that for the first time, I am actually rather glad to see the three of you. Interesting.”

“Where’s Oogie, Maleficent?” Jack demands, flexing his clawlike hands menacingly.

“And what’s up with the bag over Pete’s head?” Azlyn inquires. “Not that it isn’t an improvement, but…”

“Allow me to answer both of your questions,” Oogie replies, startling the heroes into taking a surprised step back. “Hello there, Jack and friends. So nice we could all get together again.”

“Uh…” is all Sora can say, utterly bewildered by this odd new revelation.

“Eloquent as ever, dear Keybearer,” Maleficent sighs. She turns to Oogie with a slight grin. “As much as I’d love to stay and watch this unfold I think now would be an excellent time for me to take my leave. Best wishes, Oogie dear. Best wishes indeed.”

Maleficent fades, leaving only Oogie-in-Pete and the heroes facing off in the small control booth.

“This is actually a good thing, come to think of it,” Azlyn notes with a pleased smirk. “Now I get to beat up _two_ guys I hate at once.”

“Hate to say it, Oogie,” Sora says confidently, taking a step towards his enemy, “but you _totally_ got screwed on this body deal.”

“No matter who you possess, I’m still taking you down, boogeyman!” Jack threatens his arch nemesis.

“My my my,” Oogie giggles, a hand slowly reaching back into the pouch around Pete’s waist. “Whatever shall I do? Oh, I know!” Quick as a whip (certainly faster than Pete has ever moved) Oogie grabs the largest bomb he can find. It’s nearly the size of Sora’s head, covered in blazing red metal. “I guess there are _some_ advantages to this skin sack.”

Sora and Jack rush at Oogie, but before they can reach him he arms the bomb and rears back. The pair quickly reverse, Telary already rushing toward them with shielding magic prepared.

Oogie leaps out the broken window, somehow managing to land on his feet gracefully, proving that it’s surprisingly true what they say about cats, no matter how anthropomorphic.

In the booth the bomb explodes, concussive force lifting the shielded heroes off the floor and sending them hurtling through shattered windows. Their orb of protection bounces once against the hard tile of the factory floor, then promptly breaks into pieces. The quartet hurtles apart, landing in various far flung regions of the factory.

Pete suddenly snaps to, in control of his own body once again. The first thing he does is rip off his burlap mask, relishing the cool air hitting his face.

He looks around, taking in the prone, groaning forms of his enemies strewn about the floor. He can’t help but grin at his luck, a rare stroke of good fortune that is entirely new to him.

All is well for a moment, until suddenly a peculiar itch attacks his nostrils. It appears far at the back, slowly building up momentum until…

“ _Achoo_!”

The force of Pete’s sneeze actually flings him back several feet, taking the brunt of the impact against his wide backside. It takes a few moments to come out of the daze, shaking his head to clear it.

“Jeepers crow,” he remarks, rising uneasily to his feet. “Can’t I _ever_ just have one good day for myself?”

That thought expressed, Pete decides that once again it is time to make his exit. Opening up a portal, he retreats into it.

Azlyn blearily lifts up her head just in time to see the fat cat make his exit. Shaking out her disorientation, she rises and walks over to her comrades.

Jack, Sora, and Telary have landed close together, their individual groans mingling together to create a phonically perfect supergroan.

“That,” Sora huffs out breathlessly, “was some ride, huh?”

“I’ll say,” Telary agrees, sitting up with Azlyn’s help. “What happened with Oogie?”

“I think he got away,” Azlyn relays with a grimace. “I just saw Pete take a hike. Oogie was probably still hitchhiking.”

“Yeah, that was weird,” Sora comments. “Him coming back to life I _kinda_ get, but the whole possession thing…”

“Brain bug,” Jack explains, heaving himself to his feet. “Oogie’s mind is stored inside a tiny little bug that controls the rest of his body. Dr. Finkelstein once theorized he could take control of another person, and I guess he was right. As usual.”

“He could take control of anybody,” Azlyn says, sounding incredulous. “And he chose to come back in Pete. I guess everything available in a smaller size was taken.”

“Or a stronger one,” Sora adds with a sly grin.

“My options _were_ somewhat limited at the time, actually. But hey, you work with what you’ve got, hm?”

As one the heroes turn towards the sound of Oogie Boogies voice. As they lay eyes on the vessel it issues forth from, they gasp in concert.

“This is not good,” Azlyn remarks, her throat suddenly dry.

“Yeah,” Sora agrees fearfully. “This is the not goodest of all.”

The ropes around Oogie-Santa freeze as he rises, then shatter with a shrug from the possessed holiday patriarch. Grinning, he stalks forward towards the group. As he goes, frosty blue power gathers around a gloved hand.

They dodge as a cloud of razor sharp ice slivers fly toward them, Sora and Azlyn leaping to the left and Telary going right. Jack yelps and falls to his knees, the deadly projectiles barely overshooting him.

Oogie continues his slow, steady walk, single-mindedly fixated on Jack Skellington.

Azlyn and Sora hope to take advantage of the concentration, rushing for him with weapons drawn. Oogie smiles contemptuously, lifting his right arm and creating a seven-foot tall wall of ice in front of them. Telary aims for a spell, but Santa’s left arm rises and freezes the spellcasting implement solid.

“Well well, Mr. Pumpkin King,” Oogie chuckles lowly, the maniacal sound all the more repulsive for coming from the mouth of a beloved holiday icon. “It seems it’s just you and me now, eh?”

“Oogie,” Jack spits through clenched teeth, hardly noticing Oogie rearing Santa’s hand back. “You lowdown, no good _coward_! Killing you was the best day of my _life_ , do you know that? More Halloweens than I can count, year after year of great thrills and chills, and it’s all nothing compared to the day I finally…”

With an almost contemptuous swat, Oogie Boogie knocks Jack Skellington’s head clean off.

The trio gasp as it goes flying, bouncing twice against the floor before it lands with an unceremonious _thunk_ , Jack’s final expression of defiance frozen on its face.

“NO!” Sora cries out in rage and anguish, one swing of the Keyblade shattering the wall separating him from the monster that has killed his friend. His face twisted into a seething snarl. He rushes forward with his mighty weapon raised.

Oogie lets him come, allowing the boy to significantly close the distance between them before playing his trump card.

Santa shakes his head as his will reasserts itself, suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar situation. He hears a cry of anger, and quickly turns his head to its source.

“Sora!” the frightened holiday icon exclaims, raising his hands futilely in front of his face. “What are you doing lad?”

And just like that the wrath dissipates, the Keybearer screeching to a halt before Santa Claus. The momentum is too great, and he falls to his knees.

“Just as I thought,” Oogie gloats, back in control. “You do-gooder types are all so predictable, you know that? You know you can’t hurt me without takin’ out the geezer too! Looks like I finally…”

_Clang!_

Oogie lets out a surprised sigh, his stolen eyes rolling back into Santa’s head as his body falls to the floor like a discarded coat.

Looking up, Sora sees Azlyn hovering over Santa’s prone form, shield held in both hands.

“Azlyn!” the boy cries out, rising to his feet.

“What?” she replies calmly, stowing her shield on its magnetic pad and giving her fried a shrug. “I’m already _on_ the naughty list.”

There’s a skittering sound at Sora’s feet, and he looks down to see the glowing green brain bug moving quickly across the floor. Not quickly enough, however, to avoid the descent of his heavy black shoe.

“And _stay_ out,” he quips halfheartedly.

Telary moves to check on Santa, leaving Azlyn and Sora to approach the peaceful, discarded skull of Jack Skellington.

Azlyn picks it up, hugging it to her chest as tears begin to freely fall down her face.

“Poor old Jack,” she stammers through her sobs, wracked with pain and guilt. “I know we didn’t always get along, and yeah I m-made fun of you a lot, insulted you a lot, called you stupid… But deep down I thought you were actually a really decent person. And, and you were the best dancer in Halloween Town. I was just kidding about that blitzball head thing Jack, honestly. I’m _so sorry_!”

“It’s okay, Azlyn,” the skull cradled in her arms reassures the knight. “I understand completely.”

Azlyn gasps, quickly raising the skull to eye level. Her mouth drops open as Jack grins widely up at her.

“What are you doing?” she screams down at him, her tears practically evaporating with the heat of her outrage. “How are you...? Why did…? He knocked your freakin’ _skull_ off!”

Jack snorts, chuckling lightly. “What? You thought that… You really didn’t…? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“What is so funny?” Azlyn rages, shaking Jack in her hands.

“Oh Azlyn,” Jack manages to get out, tears of his own leaking through empty sockets. “I’m a living, animated skeleton man. If you can’t knock my head off without killing me, then what’s even the point?”

“I hate you,” Azlyn mumbles.

“Really?” Telary chimes in, temporarily looking up from the dazed Santa. “Because that’s not what I just heard!”

“Hey, Azlyn,” Sora calls out, one hand behind his back. She turns to look at him, and he suddenly thrusts out a sprig of mistletoe, holding it over her with a wide grin.

“Oh, hey!” Jack exclaims, leaping up and planting one right on the knight’s cheek. She practically gags, her whole body cringing. “Sorry Azlyn, but tradition is tradition. Besides, I had to do something to thank you for all your kind… _Whoa!_ ”

Propelled by the force of Azlyn’s foot, Jack Skellington’s head flies across the factory, landing neatly in one of the square Presenter-5000 portals with a resounding clang.

**KH-KH-KH**

Later on the group reconvenes in Santa’s den, the fire blazing peacefully once more. Jack, his head firmly reattached, stands with Sora, Azlyn, and Telary in front of Santa, who’s still recovering from Azlyn’s blow to his head.

“Feeling any better Santa?” Telary asks the jolly old man.

“Oh, I’m fine,” Santa replies, adjusting the ice pack against his head. “You don’t get to be my age without taking a few bumps in the head, y’know.”

“Again, I’m super sorry about that,” Azlyn apologizes. “There really wasn’t any other way.”

“I know Azlyn, I know,” Santa assures the girl with a smile and a pat on the hand.

“Um, excuse me,” Sally says from the room’s entrance. In her hands she holds a folded black square of fabric. “May I come in?”

“Why, if it isn’t Miss Sally!” Santa exclaims joyously, fixing the patchwork girl with one of his trademark smiles. “Come in my dear, come in.”

“Thank you sir,” she replies with a slight bow of her head. “I finished it Jack. Just like you wanted!”

“Oh boy, finally!” Reaching out, Jack snatches up the bundle and quickly unfolds it, revealing a black suit that seems to be to his exact measurements. And seems very familiar. Almost _too_ familiar.

“What in heavens is that?” Santa asks, his bushy eyebrows furrowing as he leans to the right for a better look. “It looks like… Well, it looks like my suit!”

“No, Sandy, nothing like that,” Jack assures his fellow icon. “I mean, it’s patterned after yours, of course, but actually it’s for Chrismaween!”

“Chrisma _what_?”

“Chrisma _ween_ ,” Jack corrects, pulling out his black folder and handing it over to Santa.

Everyone waits with bated breath as Santa flips through the enclosed papers, muttering inaudibly to himself. With every line, his countenance only grows grimmer.

“Jack,” he finally says after a moment, a completely Zen calm in his voice, “what is the meaning of this _nonsense_!”

“Uh, uh, _well_ Santa,” Jack stammer, tugging nervously at his collar as he realizes his grand plan is falling apart before his sockets. “B-by combing Halloween and Christmas, just think of how much we could cut down on your workload…”

Santa shakes his head sadly. “Oh Jack,” he says after a minute, “you know that’s not why you came up with this idea.” His gaze becomes firm. “You still want to take charge of Christmas, don’t you?”

“What?” Jack exclaims incredulously, as if this is the most ridiculous statement he’s ever had the displeasure of hearing. “Of course not, I’m completely over that! This is just…”

“ _Jack_ ,” Santa says sternly, steepling his fingers.

“Fine, fine!” Jack admits, sighing heavily. “You’re right, I do still want Christmas for my own, I _do_!” The Pumpkin King falls to his knees, weeping openly. “You’ve gotta understand Santa, your holiday is just so _fantastic_!”

“Hah!” Santa laughs, rocking back in his chair. Everyone assembled looks at him, horrified. “Oh, sorry about that. It’s just that, Jack, there’s no way you’d be saying that if you were in my position!”

“But, you’re _Santa_!” Sora declares, feeling slightly like his reality is splintering around him. “How can you not love Christmas?”

“Did I say that?” Santa shoots back indignantly. “Of course I love Christmas, of course. But come on people, not every day of the year! Do you know how utterly _annoying_ it is to have to be so jolly all the time? And the songs, _oy vey_! There’s a reason they only play for two months out of the year. A man can only take so much Nat King Cole!”

“So, wait a minute,” Jack interrupts, holding up a bony finger. “You get bored with your holiday too?”

“Of course, Jack,” Santa replies as if it’s obvious. “All of us do. Cupid can barely pass a rose bush without trying to pull it out by the roots. Uncle Sam hates loud noises, and ol’ Lucky just wants to eat his cereal in peace!” Reaching into his pocket, Santa pulls out a small slip of paper, holding it out to Jack.

“It’s just an address,” Telary says, peering over the Pumpkin King’s shoulder.

“Yes, it is,” Santa confirms. “That’s where all of us holiday figures meet up, every Wednesday night, barring a holiday of course. We all sit around and vent our frustrations, play poker. It’s quite fun!”

“Sandy,” Jack says in a small voice, “why haven’t I ever heard about this?”

Santa frowns. “We sent you an invitation years ago, Jack. When you didn’t respond, we thought you were just snubbing us!”

“The mail doesn’t even run efficiently!” Azlyn whines to Telary. “I’m telling you, next time we’re in Halloween Town I’m setting up an exploratory committee!”

“I’d be willing to hand out flyers,” the wizard replies with a grin.

“All else aside, Jack,” Santa says seriously, “you’re the _Pumpkin King_. Nobody can do Halloween better than you can, and I pity the person who tries.”

“You’re right Sandy,” Jack agrees with a nod. “I mean, uh, Santa.”

Just then, the Chrismaween suit begins to glow, slowly rising into the air. Sora summons the Keyblade, and in seconds the next path has opened.

“Well, that was certainly a spectacle” Jack remarks, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “I wonder if I can somehow incorporate it into next Halloween.”

Sora chuckles at the thought. “I’m sure you’ll figure something else out Jack. As for us, we’d better be going.”

“Thank you for all you’ve done Sora,” Santa says gratefully. “Even though I put you on the Naughty List.”

The Keybearer just shrugs. “I understand. And besides, I don’t go around saving the universe for the presents anyway.”

“Tell me something Sora,” Santa asks. “Do you recall who it was that first told you that I ‘wasn’t real’?”

Sora grins at the memory flooding his head. “Oh, yeah. He _did_ say that.” His grin turns into a frown. “Uh, Santa, do you happen to know…?”

“I’m afraid not,” Santa replies sadly. “I went looking after I saw you the first time, but… Well, some things are beyond even me.”

“I understand.”

“But to make up for it,” Santa continues, reaching into his pocket once more, “I do have a little something for you.”

It’s a small rectangular object, a pocket picture frame. Peering inside, Sora gasps. Staring back at him are himself and Riku, almost a decade younger, sitting on the lap of a man dressed up as Santa in the Destiny Islands marketplace.

“Wow, Santa,” Sora says, tears filling his eye and falling over his cheeks. “This is amazing, I… Thank you.”

He tries to hand it back, but Santa shakes his head. “No, keep it, think of it as a late Christmas present.” The jolly old man gives the Keybearer a twinkling look. “Did you really think you would stay on the Naughty List after saving the universe? For such a minor error?”

“So what did you get me?” Azlyn asks, knocking Sora aside to stand in front of Santa. “I helped, y’know. With the universe.”

Santa gives her a flat look. “Grand theft auto, Azlyn. _Grand_.”

The knight sighs resignedly. “I _know_.”

“Don’t worry though, Azlyn,” Santa says with another twinkling look, this one wandering over to Telary. “I’m sure somebody will get you something you’ll like. _If_ young Telary remembers that little talk we had.”

Azlyn turns to her counterpart with a raised eyebrow, but he only blushes and shrugs back.

Before she can say anything, the mayor of Halloween Town wanders in, his worried face on display. In his hands he clutches a small pile of paper.

“Jack!” he calls, pushing Sally aside and making his way to the Pumpkin King. “Oh Jack, thank goodness I found you. I need you to sign off on these budget forms for next Halloween!”

Jack looks at the mayor skeptically. “But, Mayor, I suspended all Halloween operations in preparation for our transfer to Chrismaween. How did you know to put together a budget?”

“Oh please Jack,” the mayor sighs, his happy face sliding into place. “We’ve known each other for a long time. I figured all that nonsense would pass soon enough.”

“Well,” Azlyn mutters to Telary, “it seems I’ve underestimated my opponent.”

Telary gives her a grin and shakes his head. “I guess so.”

“We really ought to leave now,” Sora says. “Bye everyone!”

“Good bye, fellow bodyguards,” Jack says, looking up from his forms to wink at the trio. “Hopefully we can meet again soon.”

“Later Jack,” Azlyn says before turning to Telary, who’s fiddling with the teleporter controls. “So, what did Santa tell you to get me?”

“Azlyn,” the wizard groans, his finger pressing the recall button.

“Is it gold, Tel?” she asks as the nimbus of transporting light surrounds the trio. “You _know_ how much I love gold. Ooh, or maybe _silver_ , that’d be good too!”

His visitors exit in a flash of light, and Santa leans back in his chair, finally alone. Until his secretary walks in with the phone, that is.

“It’s Mr. Cupid, sir,” she says, placing the receiver in his hand. “He said you arranged for the call last week.”

“Thank you, Sugar,” Santa says, holding the phone to his ear. “Hello Cupid, how are things going?”

“You know how it is,” the bringer of love replies in his thick, growling voice. “Chocolates and flowers and handholding, blah blah. What’s with you?”

“Well,” Santa begins, suddenly sounding sheepish, “I just wanted to let you know that, um… I told Jack Skellington about poker night.”

“ _WHAT?”_ Cupid rages, so loud Santa has to bring the receiver away from his ear. “I thought we agreed when we started, no telling the freak!”

“He needs it, C,” Santa assures his Valentine counterpart. “Trust me, he really does.”

There’s a long pause, then Cupid sighs. “Alright, that’s fine I guess. Hey, what’s this I hear about you giving a young man romantic advice? After all that crap with Skellington, you decide to encroach on _me_?”

Santa scoffs. “Encroach? Me encouraging romantic relationships is most certainly not encroaching, Cupid. Need I remind you?”

“No!” Cupid declares, horror evident in his voice. “Don’t you dare say it, Claus!”

“Two words, C,” Santa chuckles into the phone. “Love, Actually.”


	21. Life In The Bug City

For the first few seconds after the teleporter’s light fades, Sora thinks he’s back in Wonderland, deposited in the middle of the grand, if frustrating and confusing, Lotus Forest. After all, the huge trees he’s surrounded by are thin like blades of grass, waving gently in a mild breeze. They seem to share the Lotus Forest’s discoloration as well, but that may just be due to the late twilight light coming off the setting sun.

Looking down at himself, however, Sora realizes that this is definitely not Wonderland.

His arms and what of he can see of his hands are covered in a thin blue layer of chitin, and only four fingers (one of them thankfully being a thumb) jut out from his black and yellow gloves where five usually do. Looking down further, Sora sees that his entire body is covered in the same substance, from his long thin thorax to the rounder abdomen, all the way down to his two feet.

He’s still wearing his crown pendant and suddenly scalier black jacket, and reaching up he feels the spiked quiff of his hair, though the two thin antennae sticking up out of it are new.

Piecing together all the clues presented to him, Sora reaches the inevitable conclusion that his magical clothes have turned him into…

“An ant!” he says incredulously, wiggling his abdomen experimentally. From what he remembers from school lessons, he thinks he’s missing a set of limbs, but he doesn’t let that concern him. “I guess that is grass then. I wonder if Azlyn and Telary are ants too! Azlyn! TEL! ARE YOU OUT THERE!”

“We’re here!” Telary replies, pushing through the interweaving lattice of three blades of grass to Sora’s right. The wizard has transformed as well, though his long, bristled legs and dark green chitin indicate that he’s no ant, but rather some kind of wingless cricket. He still wears his sleeveless vest, and red hair sits atop his head. He takes a second to study Sora, then smiles. “I guess we’re all insects in this world after all. Well, I guess not technically insects, since we don’t have six legs, but… Still cool!”

“Wow, Telary,” Sora says as he approaches his older friend. “No offense, but I didn’t think you’d be so excited about being a bug. After all, you’re kind of, uh, what’s the word…?”

“Squeamish?” the wizard suggests with a chuckle. “No, as a man of scientific interest, I find bugs fascinating! Sure some of them are kind of creepy, but I don’t have nearly the same problem with them as…”

“I _hate_ this stupid world already!” Azlyn declares venomously, stomping through the grass. The knight is now a hornet, her black jacket morphed into the chitin of her torso. Black and yellow stripes cover her abdomen, larger than the boys’ and equipped with a black stinger. Her usual blonde ponytail sticks out from between her antennae, and fibrous wings rest sheathed behind her back, her shield strapped underneath. “I feel all... _icky_!”

Sora snorts, his face lighting up with a wide smile. “Oh man, this is just too good. _Azlyn_ is _afraid_ of _bugs_! Hahahaha!”

“I’m not _scared_ of them, you bug brain!” Azlyn shouts defensively, crossing her black arms across her chest. “I just think that they’re _creepy_ , okay? Especially stupid ants.”

“Bad childhood experience,” Telary says sagely. “Partly my fault. I needed a few bugs for a little science project I had devised, and Azlyn volunteered to help me out. Unfortunately…”

“Those stupid creepy bugs attacked me!” the knight interrupts angrily. “All because I fried some of them with a magnifying glass, and stepped on their dumb anthill.”

“If we end up encountering any more ants,” Telary suggests with a frown, “I suggest you not bring up either of those incidents.”

“But wait a minute,” Sora says thoughtfully. “If you’re so creeped out by bugs, how can you stand to be around Jiminy all the time?”

“Well,” Azlyn sheepishly replies with a shrug, “when you add in the top hat and coat, and all of the writing and stuff, he ends up seeming a lot less, y’know, buggy.”

“Still,” Sora continues, an unmistakably mocking tone in his voice, “the thought of the mighty Azlyn being all messed up about a bunch of little bugs…”

“Listen, Sora,” Azlyn says seriously, poking a finger in his blue chest. “I am not afraid of anything, you hear me? _Nothing_!”

“Hello, fellow bugs!” a new voice suddenly chimes in.

“Eep!” Azlyn yelps, her wings beating fast and propelling her several inches into the air.

Turning away from his frightened companion, Sora sees another ant similar to him walk through the grass. He’s wearing a leaf as a hat, and a backpack made of woven grass rests on his back.

“Oh, I’m sorry about startling you!” the ant apologizes, holding his hands out defensively. “I didn’t mean to do that, I was just… Uh, my name is Flik!”

“Hi Flik,” Telary greets the ant with a friendly nod. “I’m Telary, and these are my friends Sora and Azlyn.”

“Hi guys,” Flik replies, smiling. “Are you headed to the city too?”

“City?” Sora blurts, momentarily taken aback. “Uh, um, yeah we were, actually! Yep, going into the city, that’s what we were doing. Citygoers, that’s us!”

“You just get smoother and smoother,” Azlyn sighs, still hovering in the air. As it happens, she can’t quite figure out how to get herself down.

“Cool,” Flik says. “I guess it’ll be your first time there, huh?”

“Yep,” Telary answers.

“Me too, though I guess that’s pretty obvious,” he says, gesturing to his ensemble. “Do I look like some country bug hick, or what?”

“Why are you going to the city, Flik?” Sora asks.

The country ant gives him a nervous smile. “Uh, it’s a pretty long story, actually, but the short version is that I’m on a quest to find the toughest bugs I can. Y’see, my colony is in big trouble with this gang of grasshoppers, and we’re in desperate need of warriors who can help us fight them off.” His small smile turns into a larger frown. “For a second I was kind of hoping you could help, but I guess not.”

“What?” Sora exclaims indignantly. “Are you…? I mean, how could you say that? We happen to be great warriors, thank you very much!” For emphasis, Sora holds out his hand and summons the Keyblade in a flash of light.

“That is a neat trick, I gotta admit,” Flik says with a slight nod at the Keyblade. “But c’mon, Sora. You’re just a little ant like me. I need, y’know, big _tough_ bugs to fight Hopper and his thugs.”

“What about Azlyn?” Sora asks, gesturing to his still airborne companion. “Look at that stinger and tell me she doesn’t look tough.”

Flik shrugs. “I suppose so, but even little old me managed to scare her, and she still hasn’t come down yet. You’re telling me that she can take on grasshoppers?”

“Are you gonna just, uh, float there and take that kind of talk, Azlyn?” Sora calls up to the knight. “Show him he’s wrong!”

“Normally I’d be all over it,” Azlyn replies coolly. “But I can barely stand being around two ants, let alone a whole colony of them.”

“Telary?” Sora pleads with the wizard, who just shrugs helplessly.

“Well, sorry again for startling you guys,” Flik says, waving to the trio as he turns away, “but this mission is kind of time-sensitive, so I should really be moving on to the city now. Good luck with, uh, whatever it is you do.”

“We fight evil!” Sora calls after the retreating Flik, scowling frustratedly. “We defend the weak, we… Hey, get back here!” Without a word or a glance to Azlyn or Telary, Sora takes off after the ant. “This conversation is not over, buddy! Look at me when I’m talking to you!”

Telary rolls his eyes as Sora takes off after Flik, still yelling about his prowess in combat. “We haven’t been here five minutes and already Sora is embarrassing himself. This must be some kind of record, right Azlyn? Azlyn?”

Looking around, the cricket wizard realizes that his counterpart is nowhere to be found. He can still, however, hear the rapid buzzing of her wings, high above and to the north. Worried suddenly, he races to a blade of grass and scrambles up it, scanning the sky for Azlyn.

He finds her drifting a few feet away, entranced by a floating blue light in the distance. Squinting, Telary can make out a small, rectangular white building with a long porch, the light hanging from its roof.

“That’s weird,” he comments to himself, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “What kind of place would have a little light hanging from…? Uh oh! Azlyn!”

The knight apparently cannot hear him, continuing her slow drift towards the deadly light of the bug zapper.

“Not good, not good,” Telary mutters, racking his brain for a solution. It would be a simple matter if he had wings, but instead all he’s got at hand are his two stupid long legs… “Oh!”

Telary steadies himself, glad that there’s no breeze to rock his grassy perch. Focusing all his strength in his legs, he leans back, preparing for launch.

He springs forward, the powerful muscles in his legs propelling his tiny body through the air, on a direct collision course with his counterpart. Reaching out his arm as far as it can go, he manages to secure a firm grip around Azlyn’s ankle. She isn’t ready for the extra weight, and the pair plummet through the air.

They land against the pebbly ground with a harsh thump, both startled and sure to be sore later on, but nonetheless alive.

“That was close,” Telary sighs, letting go of Azlyn’s leg and falling to lay on his back, looking up as the last red bits of twilight fade in the sky.

“And then there was the Hydra, did I tell you about the Hydra?” Sora is saying, he and Flik walking through the grass and into the same “clearing” where Azlyn and Telary rest. “Oh man was that a tough one. But I defeated him, because I’m a hero, okay?” He pauses a moment upon spotting his friends. “Oh, hey guys, what’s up?”

Taking advantage of Sora’s momentary stop, Flik shifts into an all-out sprint, crashing through the nearby grass and fleeing towards the city as fast as his legs can carry him.

“So I guess it’s still a no go on the warrior thing, huh?” Telary asks his younger friend, who sighs and drops his head.

“No,” Sora admits, sounding defeated. “I told him about Cloud, and Sabor, and the armor Heartless… But he just kept walking. I think maybe he thought I was exaggerating.”

“What a jerk,” Azlyn says with a disappointed-seeming shake of her head. “I think it’d be only giving him what he deserves if we just decided to leave this world forever, screw him and his grasshoppers. Are you with me?”

“Oh, I know!” Sora declares as if he didn’t hear a word she just said. He’s already making his way after Flik, head held high. “I’ll tell him about Ansem! Yeah, nobody can resist my ‘closing the Door to Darkness and saving the universe’ story! If that doesn’t get him begging for my help, nothing will!”

Azlyn groans, coming to her feet beside Telary again. “There’s no way I’m getting out of this, is there?”

The wizard shrugs helplessly. “None that I can see, no. Now c’mon, I don’t want Sora getting lost in this city.”

** A Bug’s World **

Bug City is actually rather impressive, architecturally speaking. Hidden away beneath the floor of the mobile home above, the entirety of the sprawling metropolis is constructed of boxes, cans, bottles, an old phone book or two, crates, discarded coffee cups, and all manner of cast off garbage.

Dozens, if not a hundred, large round bugs scurry across the main street in both directions, while countless other bugs walk the cardboard sidewalks. Taking advantage of the firefly stoplight above, the trio quickly rush to the safety of the footway. Telary has a firm grip on Azlyn’s wrist, and practically has to drag the mildly shell-shocked knight along in his wake.

“Oh hey, there’s Flik!” Sora points out excitedly.

“Sora,” Telary scolds his young friend, fixing him with his most disciplinarian frown. “At some point you’re going to have to just leave that poor ant… Yikes!”

The wizard stumbles back as the sound of a sharp, hideously off-key note plays by his feet. Looking down, he sees a fellow cricket sitting against the wall of an old Chinese takeout box, rubbing his legs together to produce the horrendous noise. Next to the poor creature is a small white rectangle of paper, the words “Kid pulled my wings off” written on it in black ink.

“Oh, dear,” Telary mutters, his throat constricting at the sight before him. “I’m so sorry, uh, sir, but I can’t, er, I just don’t have any…”

Now it’s Azlyn’s turn to grab her partner, gripping his shoulder and leading him away from the pathetic insect before him.

Up ahead, Flik is still enraptured by the teeming mass of insect life surrounding him. Sure there are a lot of ants in his colony, but the city residents’ sheer diversity in size, shape, and flying ability just overwhelms him.

“With all these bugs around, I’m sure I can find someone tough enough to help us out,” Flik says to himself, his voice low and awed.

Not, as it turns out, low enough.

“Why would you need to?” Sora asks, startling the country bug. Flik turns to Sora and scowls, but the Keybearer pays that no mind. “Like I said, um, _a lot_ , I’d be happy to lend a hand to your colony. And I wouldn’t even want anything in return!”

Flik’s scowl fades out, his expression becoming more neutral. ‘Y’know what, Sora, I guess I should be willing to give you a chance. After all, if there’s one thing I know a lot about, it’s being dismissed out of hand. So, hey, why don’t we get your friends and find some place to discuss…”

“And stay out!”

Flik’s attention shifts quickly from Sora to the source of the shout, a bar at the edge of town, surrounded by bare cardboard boxes. The building itself is made of a huge lard can, with a smaller cube that once contained a product called “smork” serving as the entrance.

A large beetle, apparently the bouncer, holds a mosquito in one hand for a short moment, before rearing back and hurling the unfortunate insect out onto the street. He bounces twice off the ground before resting, dazed and hurting.

“Oh boy!” Flik exclaims, once again ignoring Sora. “Tough bugs, finally!”

“Ah, c’mon!” Sora laments, throwing his hands up in abject frustration. Still as determined as ever, the Keybearer steels himself and follows after Flik.

The ant in question is already occupied, following along after a large bug. The bar has a very interesting setup, with several bottlecap tables placed not only flat on the floor, but also several centimeters up the rounded walls. It’s no problem for the patrons, since their naturally sticky feet allow them to easily walk right up.

Resigning himself to wait until Flik is done with his current one-sided conversation before making his case again, he takes a seat at the bar itself, which is made out of a tarnished silver harmonica. Behind the counter lurks a four-armed bartender, grabbing drinks from a straw sticking out of the roof and depositing them in front of customers.

“What’ll it be?” the surly tender asks Sora, eyes narrowed.

“Um, just water, if you don’t mind,” the boy replies nervously. The bug behind the counter is quick, drawing out an orb of water as big as Sora’s ant head almost before he has time to blink. “Uh, thanks.”

“Hey, tender!” calls out a newly arrived mosquito next to Sora. He looks tipsy already, slamming his fist on the counter. “Bloody Mary, O-positive.”

It’s all Sora can do to avoid puking as the bartender deposits a huge sphere of dark red liquid in front of the bloodthirsty bug.

He has good reason to divert his eyes a moment later, as someone in the back lets out a long, deep belch. Sora turns his head toward the source, spying a huge, horned blue beetle sitting at a mixed-species table. The beetle is _big_ , probably large enough to squish Sora’s head under one massive foot.

“Maybe I was wrong,” the Keybearer mutters to himself, turning back to the bar and taking a sip of his water. “Maybe these _are_ the toughest bugs in town.”

Little does Sora know just how wrong he is about that.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Oh, c’mon Dim!” Rosie complains, waving a black hand in front of her nose. It’s all the black widow spider can do not to gag on the stench. “You really _aren’t_ house trained, are you?”

“Sorry,” Dim replies shyly. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

“More careful?” scoffs the rough voice of Francis, a red ladybug and the smallest member of his band of friends. “I’ll tell ya who should have been more careful, PT Flea should have been more careful!”

“Now, now, Francis,” chides Slim, a tall, thin walkingstick bug, “I know you’re angry, but we did kind of drop the ball on that trick.”

“Hey, the act is called ‘Flaming Death’!” Francis protests, slamming a fist onto the table. “A stunt _he_ came up with, I might add. I mean, what kind of bug thinks up an act called ‘Flaming Death’, then gets made when he gets set on fire?”

“It is indeed a great indignity we have suffered,” agrees Manny, a green praying mantis and the troupe’s oldest member. “To be fired from a circus by a flea. It’s the greatest humiliation of my life, and my life has been _full_ of humiliations!”

“Someday,” comments the huge green caterpillar Heimlich in a thick accent, using all six of his stubby arms to stuff seeds and berries down his throat between words, “I will be a beautiful butterfly, and everything will be all better!”

“You fired!” one pillbug, Tuck, declares boisterously to his brother Roll.

“You fired!” Roll shoots back, pointing an accusatory finger at his brother.

“You fired!”

“You fired”

“You fired”

“You _fired_!”

“Okay, that is enough out of you two!” Rosie declares, throwing up her hands. “I realize you don’t speak a lot of English, but if you don’t find something else to say, I might just have to marry you. And trust me when I say you don’t want a piece of that action.”

“I’m just upset that, after so long, the gang is breaking up,” Gypsy, a moth and Manny’s wife, says sadly. “I almost feel like we’re a little family, you know?”

“Indeed,” Manny agrees, raising his droplet in the air. “Goodbye, my friends. It has been quite the journey.”

“To the audience we’ll never have,” Francis adds, earning a hearty “here here” from the table. They all knock back their drinks.

“But maybe it isn’t all bad, I guess,” Slim says, the tiniest spark of optimism in his voice. “After all, no more playing props for me! That’s right, I have played my last broom, splinter, stripper pole… Well, you get the idea. From this day on, I am a serious actor!”

“And what’s so great about an audience anyway?” Francis chimes in, scowling at all of his bad memories. “A buncha lowbrow jerks who wouldn’t know comedy if it took a bite out of their thorax!”

“Mockers of the mystical arts,” Manny agrees heartily.

“Zey used to throw stale food at us,” Heimlich notes, shrugging. “So I guess zey weren’t _all_ bad.”

“Bottom line, audiences stink!” Francis declares, punctuating his point with a tiny fist slammed into the table. “Never need to see another one of those bozos again.”

“Not even those flies from this afternoon?” Slim asks, his attention suddenly occupied by the bar’s entrance. “The ones that thought you were a girl.”

Francis hiccups, shrugs. “Those guys I guess I’d like to see again. So’s I can finally put ‘em in their place!”

“Don’t look now,” Slim says nervously, “but I think you just might be about to get your wish.”

“What?” Francis says, taken aback. Turning to look behind himself, he catches a glimpse of the two flies making their way toward the troupe’s table, elbowing aside a babbling blue ant.

“Well, lookie what we got here,” comments one of the flies as he and his friend reach the table, “if it ain’t our favorite lady, eh Lem?”

“Sure is, Ernie,” replies the other.

“Shoo fly,” Francis replies in a deadpan voice, carefully keeping his eyes fixed ahead of him. “Don’t bother me.”

“Say, Girly Bug,” Ernie says menacingly, “why don’t you repeat what ya told us back at the circus. To our pal Thud.”

The fly know as Thud certainly lives up to the name, landing so hard behind Francis that the entire “building” shakes at the impact.

“Oh,” Francis says nervously, “I don’t uh, well, I don’t exactly remember the exact, er, phrasing…”

“C’mon, Girly, tell ‘im,” Lem encourages the ladybug. “Wasn’t it somethin’ about flying around a _dung heap_?”

“C’mon,” Ernie boasts, taking a step back and raising his arms up into fighting position. “Let’s see ya fight like a girl, clown!”

“Slim, Heimlich, huddle up for a second,” Francis urges his fellow clowns, who quickly put their heads in close. “Alright, I say we give ‘em the Robin Hood act. Classic crowd pleaser.”

“Oh, yes, yes,” Heimlich replies enthusiastically. “I want to be Little John!”

“I guess I’m in,” Slim says with much less gusto. He can already tell how this is going to end up for him. “What were you thinking for me, hm? Friar Tuck, maybe?”

Francis just gives the walkingstick a mischievous grin.

Across the bar, Flik has just been rejected by a trio of bees when Azlyn and Telary arrive. Azlyn takes one look around at the mass of bug life and grimaces.

“How’s the search going?” Telary asks the clearly frustrated ant.

Flik throws up his hands in defeat. “Oh, it’s useless! Maybe I should just give Sora a chance after all. I mean, it’s not like I’m gonna find anybody else!”

“Stand back, fiends,” Francis cries out, leaping onto the table with a leaf folded into a hat atop his head. “We are the fiercest warriors in all bugdom!”

“Wow!” Flik exclaims, his spirits lifted once again. “Warrior bugs, finally!”

Sora is still sitting at the far end of the bar, affording himself an up-close-and-personal look at the unfolding scene. Part of him wants to rush in and join the fight, but he holds himself back.

“To me, my sword!” Francis calls out. Moments later Heimlich hurls the suddenly rigid Slim, Francis plucking him straight out of the air.

“Swish, swish,” Slim deadpans, once again relegated to being a mere prop. “Clang, clang. Fear me.”

“I am Little John!” Heimlich declares, his boisterousness more than making up for Slim’s lack thereof. In one had he holds a thin toothpick like a rapier. “Justice is my sword, and Truth shall be my quiver!”

The circus bugs advance, and the rest of the bar crowd begin to hurriedly back away, content to watch the brewing confrontation from a safe distance. The surging bugs push against Flik, Azlyn, and Telary, leaving all three of them unable to see what is going on within.

“Is Sora still in there?” Telary asks his counterpart.

“Icky, icky, icky!” Azlyn proclaims instead of answering, taking to the air and brushing her hands up and down her body as if she’s covered in dirt. “Get those nasty bugs away!”

“I can’t see _anything_!” Flik laments.

Speaking of Sora, the Keybearer is staring intently at the confrontation happening in front of him.

“Thrust, parry, plunge!” Slim shouts, finally getting into the role as Francis stabs his face forward at the trio of ruffian flies.

Thud is unconcerned, grabbing the walkingstick around his neck and letting out a deep growl that sends Slim’s antennae fluttering about.

“Uh, Francis,” the tall clown nervously informs his fellow performers, “me thinketh it’s not working!”

Sora is still debating whether he should intervene or not when he hears a sound that immediately makes his decision easy: portals opening, depositing Heartless that look like tiny Shadows in the shape of cockroaches.

“Hey!” Lem shouts, his wings buzzing as he rises to inspect the new arrivals. “What kinda trick is this?”

The Heartless are on him before he can get an answer, quickly devouring what there is of his ignoble heart.

“Uh, this isn’t part of the act, right?” Rosie asks nervously, already backing up with the rest of the ex-circus bugs.

“It’s not a part of any act!” Sora declares, rushing to stand before the dark creatures with his Keyblade drawn. “These are…”

“What did you bozos do to Lem?” Ernie demands, Thud growling above him. “Bring him back, or things are gonna get ugly in here!”

They get ugly regardless, Francis and his posse turning tail and running for the rounded walls of the bar, joining with the rest of their friends. Unfortunately, the combined weight of the group is too much for the lard can bar to bear, and it begins to roll away on its side.

The sudden motion greatly complicates things as the Heartless plunge toward Sora, forcing him to constantly adjust his position so as to not fall over or get crushed by fleeing bugs or the bar’s unsecured furniture.

Outside, Telary and Flik watch in shock and horror as the can goes rolling away from then, headed for one of the mobile home’s concrete support blocks.

Sora leaps for the last Heartless, cutting through it easily but also launching himself out of the lard can’s opening just before it impacts against the concrete support of the mobile home above. As luck would have it, he flies out and smacks right into Azlyn, who catches the boy out of sheer reflex.

“Are you okay?” she asks as she lowers them to the safety of the ground, setting her friend upright.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sora replies, shaking his head to clear it. “The Heartless showed up, and…”

The rest of his explanation is cut short as Flik rushes by, pushing the already battered Keybearer to the ground in his eagerness. Sora immediately springs up and takes off after Flik angrily.

When he catches up, Flik is staring up into the lard can with an awed look on his face. Frowning, Sora turns to see what the big deal is about.

The circus bugs stand atop a heap of unconscious insects and displaced furniture, looking for all the world like conquering heroes fresh from battle. It’s the kind of epic imagery that inspires artists and poets the universe over.

“What kind of…?” Sora begins to say, Azlyn and Telary stepping up to his side.

“Oh, you’re _perfect_!” Flik cries out, rushing into the can and immediately dropping to his knees, arms raised above his head as if in worship. “You are exactly what my colony needs! I’ve been looking all over for bugs with your exact talents!”

“A talent scout!” Gypsy exclaims to her companions, who all huddle together and present big smiles to the prostrate ant before them.

“The grasshoppers are coming!” Flik continues, tears falling from his eyes. “We’ve been forced to prepare all this food.”

“Food!” Heimlich repeats happily, licking his lips.

“Dinner theatre, it must be!” Manny declares with a smile.

“Please,” Flik begs, scooting forward on his knees with his hands clasped as if in prayer. “Will you help us?”

“Are you kidding me?” Sora protests, angrily stalking into the can. “These guys can’t cut it, they almost ruined everything! I did all the work.”

“Excuse me?” Francis says indignantly. “ _We_ were the ones doin’ all the work pal, ‘til you and your little friends showed up and ruined everything!”

“Jealousy is a very ugly thing, Sora,” Flik says sympathetically, standing and placing a hand on the Keybearer’s shoulder. “But hey, tell ya what, I’ll let you and your friends tag along to Ant Island. You could come in handy, you never know!” He turns back to the warrior bugs, leaving behind a pouting Sora. “Once again I ask, will you help us?”

Before any of the circus troupe can say anything, the sound of displaced rubble distracts them. Turning, they see Ernie and Thud emerging from the debris, thankfully facing the opposite direction.

“Where’d they go?” Ernie grunts, clearly enraged. “They’ll pay for what they done to Lem!” Thud rumbles in agreement.

“We’ll take the job!” Slim enthusiastically pronounces, him and his fellow performers already scurrying down the wreckage. As they pass Flik, the walkingstick lifts the ant up and carries him along, dropping him onto Dim’s back outside the ruined bar. “You can explain everything on the way.”

Tuck and Roll hop up next to Flik, and Sora huffily slides in on the other side of the pair while Rosie climbs up the rhinoceros beetle’s back.

“Alright everybody, let’s break a leg!” the black widow shouts encouragingly.

“Wow!” Flik comments with a disbelieving chuckle. “You guys are _vicious_!”

“I hate to say this Azlyn, but you have to carry me,” Telary informs his counterpart, who can’t help but uncomfortably shift her eyes from one gross bug to the next.

“Uh, okay,” she replies reluctantly, reaching out and grabbing the wizard underneath each arm, just as Francis does to Slim across the way. The thought of going to an anthill of course greatly disturbs her, but it seems that she has no choice.

Time to face her fear. At least she has Telary by her side. And Sora too, of course.

Dim takes off first, stopping for just a moment to grab Heimlich with his feet. Six passengers is a lot of weight to bear, especially where Heimlich is concerned, but the beetle barely seems to notice. Manny and Gypsy rise into the sky under their own wing power, and soon the group takes flight in earnest.

“Oh, this is excellent!” Flik yells excitedly as they get out from underneath the mobile home and into the open night air, the grass below whizzing past them. “This is too good to be true!”

“You can say that again,” Sora mutters as Tuck turns to him with a wide grin.

“You fired!” the little pillbug announces happily.


	22. Bird Brains

The flight from the city to Ant Island gives Flik plenty of time to further explain the situation his colony has found itself in. Well, the situation _Flik_ has _gotten_ the colony into, to be exact.

It seems that Flik’s colony has lived on Ant Island for countless generations, insulated from the worst of the dangers of the outside world. Until, that is, a ruthless gang of grasshoppers arrived on the scene, demanding an annual tribute of food in return for “protection”. And so it had been for years, across two queens of the colony and three leaders of the grasshopper gang.

With the benefit of practice, the ants got to be pretty good at collecting their offering, smoothing out the process considerably. _They come, they eat, they leave_ has long been the mantra of the royal line.

But Flik, a curious and inventive ant with an insatiable compulsion to shake things up, had come to think of their harvesting process as inefficient. Thus he had created a machine to cut grain down, strip and collect the seeds, and fling away the leftover stalk. Overall a very sound invention, except for the several times a discarded stalk had landed atop an innocent worker ant.

Some days ago, the grasshopper gang had arrived at Ant Island to collect their bullied bounty. Once again the ants had collected a sizeable assortment of grains, greens, and berries to appease their “protectors”, piling it all atop the ceremonial offering stone. Having done so, the colony retreated to their anthill, huddling together in the massive panic room they’d set up specifically for the occasions of the grasshoppers’ visitations. All had gone according to plan.

Until Flik singlehandedly screwed it all up.

In his eagerness to deposit the food his invention had collected, he had forgotten to carefully stow away the device itself, instead hurling it rather recklessly to the bottom of the offering stone. The stalk launching mechanism had activated, dislodging some very important supports and sending the offering stone and its bounty of food for the grasshoppers into the small pond that awaited at the bottom of the cliff.

Naturally, the grasshoppers were not very understanding of the situation. Breaking into the colony’s safe room, the gang of grasshoppers and its leader, Hopper, demanded an explanation for the lack of tribute. Princess Atta and the Queen, not as yet privy to Flik’s mistake, hadn’t been able to provide an answer to Hopper’s lacking.

The grasshopper Mafioso responded by threatening Princess Dot, the youngest and smallest of the royal family (as well as perhaps the smallest member of the colony period, though Flik assures Sora that she’ll grow into a great leader someday. Then he went off on some tangent about a rock that was a seed). Flik stood up for the girl, but that act of defiance had only seemed to anger Hopper more.

And so it was that Hopper proclaimed that the ants of Ant Island were to collect a new tribute, but this time double that of their usual offering.

The colony was naturally frantic, but more immediately than that they were well-and-truly-pissed at Flik (part of Sora can’t blame them).

“So then I had to go before the colony’s council,” Flik yells to Tuck and Roll over the buzzing of Dim and the others’ wings, “and Princess Atta, boy is she great, one in a million I tell ya, sent me off to find you. Well, not you specifically, but warrior bugs in general. I just happened to find you first.”

Tuck and Roll nod along with the funny ant’s words, but neither of them actually understood a word he’d said the whole flight.

Sora does, however, and decides that Flik’s cause is definitely a worthy one. Sora has never liked bullies, even before becoming a hero of the universe, and these grasshoppers seem to him like the worst kind. Whether Flik believes in his prowess or not, the Keybearer is determined to help out in any way he can.

“Sora,” Flik yells to the Keybearer, drawing him out of his thoughts. “I wanted to say sorry for the way I treated you earlier. I was just under a lot of stress. I really can’t screw anything else up, y’know?”

Sora shrugs. “Hey, I understand completely,” he says with a friendly grin. “I may just be an ant, but I promise you I’ll give it my all when Hopper comes back around.”

Not far away, Azlyn flies with Telary in her arms, the buzzing of her own wings, as well as the nearly-as-constant chomping noises Heimlich makes as he picks leaves out from below and stuffs them down his gullet, beginning to wear thin on her patience.

“You still doing okay up there?” the wizard calls up, lifting his feet up to avoid a particularly tall blade of grass. Azlyn had inadvertently run him smack into several during the flight, but now that morning is starting to break and light the way, he’s been able to avoid any new impacts.

“Actually, no,” Azlyn replies, sounding amazed at her own answer. “Even though this whole thing is kind of gross.”

“Oh,” Telary says with a frown.

“I mean, because you’re a bug, I mean,” the knight quickly clarifies, very glad that hornets don’t blush. “Not that I have a problem with you usually, it’s just bug you that’s gross. Normal human you isn’t gross at all.”

“Um, thank you?” Telary says confusedly.

“In fact, normal human you is, like, the opposite of gross,” Azlyn continues, her mouth and brain clearly not working in tandem. “I mean, I like your hair, and your eyes are like, _super_ blue, and, um…”

“This is it!” Flik calls out, loud enough to be mostly heard by the whole group, thankfully interrupting Azlyn’s painfully awkward word-cavalcade. “This is Ant Island!”

Presiding loftily over a dry riverbed, the island is rather small by human standards, probably less than a hundred square feet, but sized down to a bug’s perspective it’s absolutely spacious. The most dominant feature is a huge tree, missing several dozen leaves but still coated generously in green.

As the procession gets closer, Sora can make of a line of puffy white dandelions growing up on the edge of the cliff, followed by a small forest of flat-topped clovers.

“Oh, there’s the princess!” Flik exclaims happily, pointing down to a tiny purple ant that Sora can only assume is Dot. She looks quite excited, jumping up and down with her arms waving wildly. Within a few moments, two slightly taller blue ants come rushing up to join her.

It takes only a few seconds to buzz over to the clearing in front of the tall tree, where the ants looking up at the arriving warriors don’t seem nearly as thrilled as Dot. There’s a lot of loud, panicked screaming, ants running to and fro like chickens with their heads cut off.

“They don’t look very happy to see us,” Telary nervously mutters to Azlyn.

“Well,” Azlyn replies, sounding like she’s barely holding herself together, “I can’t say I’m super happy to see them either!”

“Okay everybody, you know what to do!” Rosie shouts over the din. “Like PT says, start big, stay big, end rich!”

And their landing _is_ big, all of them striking signature poses as soon as they have their feet on the ground. Jazz hands abound, and everyone wears the biggest smile they can muster. Only Azlyn and Telary land without any of the pageantry.

“I wasn’t aware there would be posing,” Azlyn whispers to her older friend, who nods sympathetically.

“Ta da!” Francis calls out to complete the look.

Unfortunately the theatrics seem lost on their crowd, who all remain in their hiding places, cautiously watching the strangers who look like they could make an easy meal out of the entire colony. The entire island is silent as a grave.

“Well,” Manny sighs, stepping out of his pose and crossing his arms as he frowns at the sight before him, “it seems that once again, our reputation has proceeded us.”

“I liked it,” Sora says with a cheerful smile and a shrug.

Flik isn’t deterred by the fear of his fellows, climbing down of Dim’s back with a broad grin. “Hey everybody!” he calls, hands cupped around his mouth for volume. “I’m back guys, I’m back! And look who I brought with me! Our salvation is at hand!”

Tiny ant heads begin to pop up through thickets of grass and from behind fallen leaves, others peering out from behind the supports of the offering stone. It’s all only tentative though, no one brave enough to venture out on just Flik’s say so.

“Flik!” Princess Dot calls out enthusiastically, rushing across the bare clearing to run into Flik’s embrace. The inventor smiles and scoops the girl up happily.

The tiny princess’s gusto seems to stir something in the hidden ants, who slowly begin to emerge from their hiding places and gather around the warrior bugs, an ever expanding circle of dozens upon dozens of ants.

As the curious colony approaches, Azlyn reaches out for Telary’s hand. The wizard easily obliges, doing his best to reassure his perturbed comrade.

Up at the top of the anthill, built around a large tree root digging into the ground that has been carved into a ramp, Princess Atta, a light purple, winged female ant wearing a small crown made of leaves, emerges to find Mr. Soil, a light blue who is the colony’s primary educator and one of the members of the tribunal council, staring down at the new arrivals with a look of hope.

“Flik has returned,” the teacher tells her, his voice liltingly accented. “And he’s brought some positively _savage_ looking insects with him.” He frowns at the odd bug out among the exotic and ferocious. “And some kind of _spiky_ ant.”

“ _What_?” Atta asks incredulously, hovering her way over to Mr. Soil’s side with a shocked look on her face. Observing the scene below, she only becomes more dumbfounded. “He came _back_? With actual _bugs_? We let him go on his stupid mission to get him out of our antennae, he wasn’t actually supposed to _find_ anybody!”

“It seems, Princess, that you underestimated the young man,” Mr. Soil replies. “I dare say we _all_ did.”

Back down in the hubbub, Sora finds himself shoved aside as ants crowd around the more exotic newcomers. One group marvels at the beautiful patterns of Gypsy’s wings, while another approaches Slim, Francis, and Heimlich.

“Hey,” one of the ants, a young kid, asks Slim. “What are you supposed to be?”

“He’s a stick, idiot,” his friend admonishes. “You use him to hit bugs.”

“Well, actually that’s an oversimplification,” Slim corrects the young ant.

“Actually, you’re right kids!” Francis interrupts, grabbing slim and hoisting him above his head. “Like this!”

With a loud _smack_ , the ladybug slams Slim down onto Heimlich’s head, both of the clowns crying out in pain.

One ant makes the mistake of touching Azlyn’s stinger, and she turns to him with a fierce look on her face, wings buzzing angrily. The overly curious ant yelps and runs away, arms flailing fearfully above his head.

An old, bent over ant uses his small wooden cane to hobble over to Telary, looking down at his long cricket legs appraisingly. Naturally self-conscious, the wizard hastily crosses them, creating a surprisingly sweet note.

“Oh my stars!” the elderly ant exclaims, his face lighting up in a gummy smile. “Say, do you know ‘Swanee River’?”

Another swarm of ants, tiny children lead by the ever-adventurous Dot, rush past Sora’s legs, spinning him around as they move to climb atop Dim like the large beetle is playground equipment.

The Keybearer shakes his head to clear it, his vision ending up focused on Flik and an elderly purple ant wearing a crown of pink petals. Under her arm, a tiny green aphid squirms excitedly.

“Your Highness,” the inventor greets the lady, his head bowed low.

“I hope that’s not Princess Atta,” Sora mutters to himself. It’s probably the queen, he decides after a second of consideration.

“I must say my boy, I didn’t think you were going to come through!” the queen admits, her voice rough but lively. “But you really did after all. Afie and I are very impressed.” The aphid barks along happily.

The queen moves along to talk to Telary, her expression more-than-friendly than the wizard is comfortable with, and Flik looks back into the crowd with a wide smile. Sora turns to see what the inventor is looking at, and finds another crowned ant walking through the crowd.

“Princess!” Flik yells happily, darting forward and grabbing the purple ant by the hand, leading her farther into the circle. “Hey everybody, this is Princess Atta! She’s the one who sent me to find you!”

The warrior bugs all wave to Atta, but she only looks around at them all, obviously panicked.

“This is exactly what we’ve been waiting for!” exclaims the rough voice of Thorny, a short blue ant who serves as Atta’s assistant and head of gathering. The rest of the council, including Mr. Soil, old man Cornelius, and the pleasantly plump Dr. Flora, gather around the princess, all looking very pleased.

“We’re saved for sure!” Cornelius laughs.

“So, Princess Atta,” Flik says, holding out an arm to the warriors like they’re the home prizes on a game show, “what do you think?”

Atta just gapes, open-mouthed, at the warriors for a moment before turning back to the council and calling for a huddle. Sora strains to hear them, but can’t.

Meanwhile, Slim bends down to Francis, a look of concern on his face. “Uh oh,” he whispers to his small friend. “We might be losing the gig!”

“Ants!” Azlyn, who overheard the walkingstick, scoffs. “You just can’t trust ‘em, I knew it!”

For a second, Francis pops his lips, eyes rolling back and forth as he thinks of a solution.

“Obviously we gotta sweeten the deal,” he replies, his wings already lifting him into the air. He drifts over to Dim, and lands atop the beetle’s horn. “Your Majesty! Ladies and gentleants, boys and girls of all ages, lend to me your ears!”

The entire colony quiets down, all eyes focusing on the ladybug.

“This troupe guarantees a performance like no other!” Francis proclaims, gesturing grandly. “We have trained for years, honing our craft in hundreds of venues much like this one to become the best in the field. I can guarantee that when your grasshopper friends arrive, we are gonna knock. Them. Dead!”

The colony lifts up a mighty cheer at the proclamation, howling and clapping and waving their hands above their heads in joyous celebration. Except for Princess Atta, who watches the celebration with a firm frown and look of disapproval.

“Boy,” Sora overhears Slim say to Heimlich, “these ants sure are hard up for entertainment!”

 _Entertainment_? Sora thinks, suddenly reeling as his mind princesses the statement. Why would warriors be concerned with entertainment? Come to think of it, why would a group of supposedly fierce warriors flee from the challenge of a few measly flies? Why, it would only make sense if…

“Uh oh,” Sora mutters to himself, following it up with a loud heavy gulp. Perhaps these supposed “warriors” aren’t all that they’ve been led to believe. Quickly, the Keybearer rushes to Flik’ side. “Uh, Flik? I’m starting to think that maybe…”

“Not now Sora,” the inventor admonishes him. “They’re putting together a celebratory feast for the warriors, and I’m gonna get to sit at the big table!”

“But, Flik!” Sora calls out uselessly, the inventor already rushing off with his fellow ants. The Keybearer droops, suddenly awash in nervousness and fear.

**KH-KH-KH**

The Ant Island colony proves just as quick and efficient at assembling a party as they are at putting together offerings, and within the span of an hour the official welcome feast for the warrior bugs is in full swing.

At a specially set up table, the warriors (minus Sora, who was denied a place) sit as guests of honor with Flik, Atta, and the queen, watching the colony band play a jaunty woodwind and percussion fueled tune on their instruments.

The queen is at the table’s head, and her daughter Atta sits at her right hand. Next to the princess is Flik, who drums his hands along the grass blade surface of the table, looking like a kid on Christmas morning. Further to the right are Rosie, Slim, Francis, Heimlich, Azlyn, and Telary. At the queen’s left hand is Gypsy, her husband, the pill bugs, and Dim further down.

Sora watches it all with a frown, still concerned with the conclusions he has reached about Flik’s so-called saviors. He seems to be the only one but Princess Atta, who the Keybearer is sure he hasn’t seen looking even mildly relaxed or happy since he and the others arrived, to not be convinced.

Back up at the table, Dot and another small ant, both wearing little capes made of leaves, approach the warriors at the table’s right side. Azlyn immediately backs away from the small insects, hiding a little behind Heimlich’s bulk.

“Go on,” Dot encourages her friend, prodding her toward the warriors.

“Um, hello,” says the non-royal ant, holding something behind her back. “Sorry to disturb you, but, um…”

“It’s okay, little girl,” Rosie assure the youngster, beaming down a smile that quells her nerves somewhat.

“Ve love to receive gifts!” Heimlich chimes in happily. “Especially tasty-looking leafy morsels like zat one you have zer.”

Dot giggles behind her hand. “Oh, it isn’t for eating,” the youngest princess clarifies, poking at her friend again. “C’mon Daisy, show them!”

“I, uh, I drew this picture for you,” she says, holding out the leaf. Telary takes it and hold it up, the rest of the bugs crowding around him to look at it.

Upon seeing the painting, they wish they hadn’t. The cleanest way to describe it is that there’s a very liberal use of the color red, most of it flying out of grasshopper bodies or collecting in pools at the feet of the combatants.

“It’s a picture of you fighting the grasshoppers,” Daisy explains.

“That it is,” Francis states numbly, his mouth dropped open in shock. “That, it _is_.”

“Would ya look at all that blood?” Slim comments in a high-pitched voice.

“I’m the one who told her to add all of it in!” Dot chimes in happily. “Oh, and kill some of you, to make it more dramatic.”

“Oh my,” squeaks out Heimlich, one of the pair of heroes Daisy deemed fallen. His entire body pales in color as he stares at the painted image of himself cut in half, white bone sticking out of his red guts.

“I’m pretty sure my spine does _not_ bend that way,” Telary, the other casualty, says with a wince.

“I actually like it!” Azlyn chimes in cheerily, peering over her counterpart’s shoulder. “Look how far I got my stinger through that grasshopper’s head!”

“But that other grasshopper there seems to have torn your arm off,” Slim points out, still thoroughly shell-shocked. “Oh, and look, he’s beating Manny to death with it!”

“Well, little girl, this is certainly a very, um, _unique_ little tableau,” Rosie tells the still nervously fidgeting Daisy. “Thank you very much for painting it.”

“You’re welcome,” Daisy says in a small voice, before turning and following Dot back into the crowd. “I dunno, Dot, I don’t think they liked it. I thought the caterpillar was gonna hurl.”

Dot shakes her head, patting her pal encouragingly on the back. “Hey, remember what Mr. Soil said? As long as your art can provoke a reaction, you should be proud of it!”

The provoked reaction continues for a long minute, none of the circus bugs saying a word, just letting the music fill the air, suddenly sounding very inappropriate for their mood.

“What the hell was that?” Francis says first, his voice a low whisper.

“Uh, fighting the grasshoppers, hello?” Azlyn butts in, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Like you came here to do?”

“We didn’t come here for fighting!” Slim declares angrily.

“But, you’re warriors,” Telary says, puzzled. “That’s why Flik brought you here.”

“Well _ve_ certainly didn’t know zat!” Heimlich protests.

“And besides, we’re not warriors,” Francis says venomously. “We’re clowns! You know, like from the circus?”

“ _Clowns_!” Azlyn hisses, shaking her head and backing away. “Bug clowns, ant children…” she mutters in disbelief. “This world is like all my worst fears combined and come to life! Now all we need is a dog!”

“I can’t believe Flik would lie to us like that,” Rosie declares, the first time Telary can remember her sounding truly angry.

“I say we go!” Francis states forcefully, slamming his fist on the table.

From his place in the crowd, Sora can’t help but notice the very intense discussion that has broken out on the right side of the table, drawing in everyone but Flik, who still smiles and drums obliviously along with the music.

Finally the music stops, and even the bugs in discussion shut up and turn back to face the band, clapping politely, if strained.

Princess Atta rises from her seat as the band moves their instruments off. She smiles at the crowd, but it’s nervous, unsure. She begins saying something, but even with the band gone she’s very hard to hear.

Until Flik gets a bright idea, quickly folding a blade of grass into a makeshift megaphone and holding it up to the princess’s mouth.

“…WARRIORS,” Atta’s voice suddenly projects through the cone, startling her so bad her speech completely cuts off. The crowd laughs at her reaction, and the princess glares down at Flik, who just gives her a big grin and double thumbs up. “Thank you, Flik.”

“Warriors?” Gypsy whispers to her husband, making sure the queen can’t hear. “What does she mean by that?”

“I don’t know, my dear,” Manny replies, something cautious in his voice. “But I fear we shall soon find out.”

Sora’s grin gets a little less subtle as he notices that the consternation has spread to the table’s left side.

“AS I WAS SAYING,” Atta continues in her amplified voice, after taking another few moments to compose herself. “FIRST THING FIRST, I’D LIKE TO THANK THE WARRIORS, FOR PLEDGING THEIR SUPPORT IN OUR UPCOMING FIGHT AGAINST THE GRASSHOPPERS.”

The ant colony explode into more clapping and cheering, providing ample noise cover for the fervent discussion now going on at the right side of the table.

“Well, Flik certainly _thinks_ that you’re warriors,” Azlyn tells the troupe, hands on her abdomen.

“Well, somebody’s gonna have to tell him that we’re _not_!” Slim demands.

The ovation dies down and Atta continues with her speech. “AND SECONDLY, I’D LIKE TO THANK…” The princess takes a deep breath, wincing as if her next words are going to physically hurt her. “…Flik, FOR HIS INCREDIBLE FORESIGHT IN GATHERING…”

“NO, NO, PRINCESS ATTA,” Flik butts in, grabbing the megaphone and climbing over the table to stand in front of his colony. “ALL THE CREDIT HERE BELONGS TO YOU, AND YOU ALONE, FOR BELIEVING IN ME AND SUPPORTING MY QUEST.”

As Atta gives another queasy smile and wave, Rosie tip toes up behind Flik, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Not now Rosie, I’m giving my speech,” he tells the black widow out of the corner of his mouth. Rolling her eyes, she begins whispering in his ear anyway.

Sora frowns as he takes the scene in, realizing in his gut that the levy of truth is about to break wide open, at least for Flik. Part of him wants to prevent it, but mostly he can’t help but just watch things progress, like a train wreck he can’t tear himself away from.

“AND I TRULY BELIEVE,” Flik continues with great aplomb, despite the sound of Rosie’s voice in his ear, “THAT THESE WARRIOR BUGS ARE THE ANSWER TO OUR…”

“ _…Circus performers!”_ Rosie hisses at the speechifying inventor.

“No, no, there’s no circus around here,” Flik says as another aside, covering the small end of the megaphone with his hand. “NOW, AS I WAS…”

Suddenly Flik’s stops midsentence, his brain finally catching up to what Rosie just told him. Every word she said plays back in his head, like an instant replay in a berryball game.

“You made a _huge_ mistake, Flik,” she had said. “We are in no way, shape, or form, warriors, okay? We’ve never fought a day in our lives, because we. Are. Circus performers!”

For a brief, crystalline moment, Flik feels as if he’s living in a dream, a terrible nightmare brought on by bad grain and puddle water. Surely this isn’t _actually_ happening, the very idea is absurd. The warriors he had so brilliantly sought out, handpicked for their valor and bravery, _cannot_ instead be mere circus performers. It’s crazy, cruel, more sadistic than any punishment Hopper could devise for failing to meet his demands. Only in his darkest, wildest nightmares could such a thing actually be happening.

Except that it _is_.

His brief moment of perfect, _terrible_ clarity shatters, and the heavy reality of the situation settles itself in his thorax.

“Your Highness!” he yells at Princess Atta, hurling his megaphone away with wild abandon and stumbling over the table to stand beside her. “It seems that the warriors are ready for their initial strategy session a little early, so they have to go, right away, while the inspiration is still striking them.”

“Oh,” Atta says, a little taken aback by Flik’s abruptness. She’d normally just think he’s being his usual weird self, but the warriors are in fact leaving the table and grouping together. “Well, should I come too?”

“NO!” Flik screams right in her face. “Uh, y’see, you’d really just interfere in their plans for circus, er, _circumventing_ the grasshoppers when they come, so they can trapeze, I mean, trap them with ease. The process is really very delicate!”

“Are you sure?” Atta asks again, a little more forcefully this time. “Because I really think that I should, y’know, make myself available to…”

“No, no, sorry,” Flik cuts her off again, backing away slowly. “Very classified information, much too delicate. It’s all strictly, erm, B.Y.O.B.” Flailing around desperately for something, _anything_ to distract the princess with, he spies Telary standing close. Bereft of other options, he grabs the redheaded cricket and shoves him toward Princess Atta.

“Um,” Telary says, miffed by the sudden forced movement.

“You can direct any questions, comments, concerns, complaints, requests, reflections, and introspections to Telary here,” Flik says, patting the wizard on the back.

“Isn’t he needed for the meeting?” Atta inquires.

“No,” Azlyn chimes in, stepping up to Telary’s side as Flik rushes up to the circus bug troupe, already pleading and cajoling desperately. “He’s, uh… We mostly just keep him around for morale. Jaunty tunes during battle and stuff like that.”

“Jaunty _what?”_ Atta demands, hands on her abdomen.

“So, uh, sorry everybody!” Flik calls to the colony at large, who all seem confused by the sudden change in the atmosphere. “I’ve got to take the warriors away now, lots of strategy to devise!”

“Azlyn!” Telary hisses at his counterpart as Flik herds the “warriors” out into the grass forest. “How am I supposed to keep Atta occupied? What if she asks me questions I can’t answer?”

The knight shrugs, taking to the sky and heading after Flik and the troupe. “Tell her that bug joke you know,” she suggests. “About the centipedes?”

“Oh, yeah,” Telary says numbly. “That one kills. How does it go again?”

For once Sora’s anonymity among the colony works in his favor, and the Keybearer is able to easily follow after Flik, who has the circus bugs gathered at the near edge of the clover forest.

“How can you be _circus bugs_?” Flik is yelling, his outrage hardly phasing the troupe, who all glare fiercely at the little ant inventor.

“Probably none of them went to college,” Azlyn suggests.

“Hey buddy, you didn’t say anything about fighting grasshoppers, okay?” Francis rages at Flik, hovering up so he’s face-to-face with the ant inventor. “ _You_ lied to _us_!”

“Do you know what this is?” Flik asks venomously, scowling at the not-warriors. Sora has never seen the inventor looking so angry. “This is false advertising!”

“Ha!” Manny scoffs, stepping up to Flik. The ant is quite a bit shorter than the praying mantis magician, and backs up accordingly, his anger replaced by caution and a hint of fear. “I do believe that it is _you_ who is the charlatan in this scenario! Preying upon innocent, desperate performers and tricking them into fighting hopeless battles for you! Well, I tell you, we will not be party to it. Good day sir!”

As the bugs begin to walk away, Sora scurries in front of Flik, cutting the inventor off from his pursuit. “Like I said before, Flik,” he says. “I would be happy to…”

He doesn’t get to finish offering before Flik is off after the circus bugs again, rushing in front of the group and cutting them off.

“No, please just stay while I try and find a way out of this mess,” Flik pleads, his hands clasped together tightly.

“Vy don’t you just tell zem all the truth?” Heimlich suggests.

Flik lets out a bitter laugh. “Are you kidding me?” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. “If this mistake gets out, it’ll be my greatest screw-up ever! Don’t you understand, I will never live this down! My children’s _children_ will walk down the street, and people will point and laugh and say ‘there goes the spawn of _Flik_ , the loser’!”

“That won’t happen,” Azlyn assures Flik, almost patting him sympathetically on the shoulder before she remembers that he’s an _ant_.

“Why’s that?” Flik asks, looking hopeful.

The knight shrugs. “Who’s gonna want to mate with you after this mess?”

“Azlyn!” Sora admonishes his friend.

“Hey,” she defends herself, hands held out in front of her, “Telary’s in charge of morale, not me!”

“Flik!” calls the voice of Princess Atta from beyond the cover of the grass. “Flik, where are you?”

“No!” the ant in question gasps.

Sora shakes his head and moves back toward the sound of the princess’s voice. “If you won’t listen to me, Flik, maybe Atta will. I’m just going to go explain to her that…”

“No!” Flik cries out defiantly, rushing around the circus bugs and tackling Sora to the ground. The Keybearer struggles, but Flik’s desperation seems to lend him some kind of freak super strength.

Azlyn rolls her eyes and buzzes over the ant-on-ant struggle, heading for the edge of the small clearing, and Princess Atta. For all the things Flik has going against him in Azlyn’s book, she can’t help but sympathize with the little weirdo, remembering well the feeling of fretting over a big lie being exposed. If nothing else, she owes it to a fellow member of the Fraternity of Dishonesty to try and help him out.

“I’m really sorry Your Highness,” Telary apologizes to Atta, trailing after the royal as she searches for Flik and his strange band of brawlers. “I promise I can remember the punchline right, you’ve just gotta give me a chance to…”

“Wassup, Princess?” Azlyn asks, breaking through the grass and striking a nonchalant pose in midair. “What, uh, what’re you doing here?”

Atta puts her hands on her abdomen and glares up at the hovering hornet. “Look, I know you warriors probably have some kind of, I don’t know, ‘secret code’ or whatever, but I _am_ kind of in charge of things around here. On a trial basis at least, and I just think that if anyone should be involved in this meeting you’re having, it should be me.”

Azlyn shrugs and makes a ­ _so-so­ wavy_ gesture. “Well, the thing is that, uh, Flik actually took the other warriors with him to, uh, another part of the island,” she lies, actually sounding pretty convincing. It comes naturally after a lot of practice. “He wanted to show them some of the, uh, natural defenses around the island. Hiding spots, strong rocks, er, particularly distracting flowers. That kind of thing.”

“Yipe!” comes a sudden cry from beyond the grass. Azlyn and Telary recognize it immediately as belonging to Sora.

“What is going on in there?” Atta demands, ducking under Azlyn and pushing through into the clearing beyond. She stops suddenly, her eyes wide.

Sora lays in the center of the clearing, his arms and legs bound together with strips of grass. He struggles ferociously for a moment before looking up and seeing his friends and the princess watching him.

“Hey, guys,” he sheepishly greets them, waving as best he can. “You might be wondering what’s going on here. And of course you’d be right to! Y’see, what’s happening is…”

“It’s a training exercise,” Telary picks up, moving to stand in front of Atta and nod furiously. “You tie one member of the troupe up, and then the others go hide before the, uh, tied up one breaks out and finds them.”

“It’s very effective for scouting new terrain quickly,” Azlyn chimes in, stepping up beside her counterpart. “Not to brag, but I _did_ come up with it.”

Atta purses her lips, surveying the scene doubtfully. “Okay,” she says, sounding finally fed up. “That’s it, something weird is going on around here, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it!” That said, Atta turns on her heel and strides back towards the anthill and the council.

“Go with her,” Azlyn hisses to Telary. “I’ll get Sora free, and then see what I can do to help Flik out.”

“Sure,” the wizard responds, rushing off after Princess Atta. “Hey, wait up Your Highness, I’ve got _another_ joke for you!”

Azlyn goes back to Sora, unsheathing her shield and cutting through his bonds. “This whole situation is a joke! All we need now are the Heartless showing up, and… Oh, no.”

“What?” Sora asks, rubbing his wrists to get circulation back.

The familiar sounds of Heartless appearing fills the clearing, and in seconds a group of four-armed, insectoid versions of Soldier Heartless descends on Azlyn and Sora.

Sora swipes at one, but it ducks under the Keyblade and goes for his thorax, almost scoring a hit with both sets of claws before Sora backs away just in time, unleashing another swipe that cleaves the creature neatly in half.

Azlyn flies above her opponents, throwing her shield to stun one Locust before diving in and finishing him off with her stinger. Turning quickly, she kicks away another Heartless, then rushes forward to punch its chest in.

Sora knocks the head clean off the last Heartless, then lets out a relieved breath.

“You just had to say it, didn’t you?” he scolds Azlyn with a half-strength glare.

The knight shrugs. “What can I say? Do you think there might be more of them?”

“There always are, when I’m around,” Sora says with an affirmative nod. “We should probably go warn the colony. Oh, and Flik!”

“I’ll take Flik and the clowns,” Azlyn volunteers, shaking her wings out. “I’ll be able to catch them easier. Hey, Sora?”

“Yes?”

“You’re not gonna tell Atta and the council about Flik’s mistake are you?” she asks, her tone serious.

The Keybearer shakes his head in response. “No, in spite of everything I won’t.” He holds up his once-bound wrists and grins. “I can tell he’s pretty desperate to keep this quiet. So, as long as the colony isn’t put in any more danger than it has to be, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

“Cool,” Azlyn nods, already rising into the air. “Good luck.”

Breaking through the canopy of clovers, Azlyn scans the area for signs of Flik and the “warriors”. The first person she spots is actually the small Princess Dot, standing on a dandelion and looking out across the canyon. Following the ant’s gaze, Azlyn finally spots the circus performers across the dry, cracked riverbed, stalled right at its edge for some reason. As she gets closer, she realizes that Flik is preventing their departure by holding desperately onto Slim. Manny has a grip on the inventor’s foot, calling upon all of his (not terribly impressive) strength to pry the ant loose.

“Please!” Flik begs, wincing as Manny gives his leg another hard tug. “I’m _desperate_!”

“Really?” Slim shoots back. “I couldn’t tell!” Looking up, he sees Azlyn descending onto the scene. “Azlyn, thank goodness. Quick, help pull him off.”

The knight’s intervention proves unnecessary, as the moment she approaches Flik gasps, lets go of Slim, pries his foot out of Manny’s grip, and races back across the riverbed, screaming bloody murder.

“Wow,” Azlyn remarks proudly, landing beside Heimlich. “I didn’t realize I was so threatening. Must be the stinger.”

“He sure runs fast for a little guy,” Heimlich observes.

“What’re you doing here, Azlyn?” Gypsy asks the hornet. “Have you decided to join the act?”

The knight snorts derisively. “No, definitely not. Actually, I came to warn you that there are some dangerous monsters are lurking around.”

“Monsters?” Francis asks incredulously. “Whaddya mean, _monsters_?”

_Thump!_

Stumbling forward as the ground shakes, the circus bugs and Azlyn turn towards the source of the impact. It’s a bird, a huge orange and yellow finch with a beak large enough to swallow any of the insects present whole (excepting perhaps Heimlich, who’d probably need a lot of chewing first).

Looking down at its new prey, the bird lets out a tweet that sounds to the bugs below like the bellow of an angry dinosaur.

“Not actually what I was talking about,” Azlyn admits. “But still… RUN AWAY!”

“Tweet tweet, tweet tweet!” Tuck and Roll yell frantically, joining the rest of the troupe in rushing across the dry riverbed. Most pump their legs and hop over the small cracks that seem as deep as ravines, and the flyers stay low to avoid getting individual attention from the bird.

**KH-KH-KH**

Back on Ant Island, Princess Atta leads her mother and the council to the large rock that sits embedded in the edge of the island, jutting out over the riverbed below, Sora and Telary trailing along behind the procession. Sora has been trying for several minutes now to alert the colony to the threat of the Heartless, but as seems to be standard on this world, they ignore him.

“I’m telling you mother, Flik is up to something,” Atta declares, a permanent frown etched on her face.

A great commotion rises up from below, and the ants quickly rush to the edge of the stone to see the warriors fleeing from a bird, screaming bloody murder all the while.

“A bird!” Mr. Soil cries out in abject fear, looking down to Thorny. “Oh, I feel faint, catch me!”

The thespian insect collapses, but Thorny does not catch him, letting his fellow council member fall to the ground.

“Sora, Azlyn’s down there!” Telary says to the Keybearer, his face a rictus of fear and pain. “Wha if she tries to fight the bird?”

“Fight a bird?” Thorny asks incredulously, tearing his eyes away from the chase below to give Telary a skeptical glare. “What kind of fool would do something like that?”

The wizard shakes his head. “Exactly the kind of fool Azlyn can be, sir.”

Another great scream washes over the council, this one high-pitched and coming from above. Looking up, they spot Dot, clinging for dear life to a single dandelion seed pod.

“Dot!” the queen exclaims in utter horror. “My baby!”

The bird notices the scream of the youngest princess as well, looking up and spotting a much smaller meal, but also a more helpless one. With another loud tweet, it rises to snarf down the small girl.

Dot screams again, catching the attention of Azlyn, who immediately sets her wings to buzzing and chases after the bird.

Obviously the finch reaches Dot before Azlyn reaches it, but the royal ant lets go of the seed pod, desperately willing her wings to activate. They buzz a bit, but her fall doesn’t break. She lets out another screech.

This one Francis hears, and the ladybug acts quickly, rushing up to meet the tiny girl. He’s so laser-focused on her, however, that he doesn’t see Azlyn attempting the same maneuver. They slam into each other, then Dot comes down on them, sending all three plummeting towards the dry ground.

“Azlyn!” Telary and Sora cry out simultaneously.

The combined frantic wing beats of the pair manage to cushion the fall, and the trio of bugs drop neatly into a wide crevice. The bird spots them and quickly turns, landing on the edge of the ravine and looking down ward. The finch’s talons disturb the loose rocks along the riverbed, sending a few pebbles falling down into the crack.

Azlyn acts quickly, raising her shield and deflecting a big one coming right for her. It impacts hard enough to snap something in her arm, and the knight yelps in pain, dropping her shield. The deflected rock lands on Francis’s ankle, and the ladybug cries out as well.

“Sorry!” Azlyn apologizes to her hurt comrade.

The ladybug only stops his terrified screaming when a much tinier pebble falls atop his head, knocking the clown out cold.

The rest of the circus procession manages to get to the opposite end of the riverbed, taking shelter behind a rock. They huddle there, heads popping over the stone’s top to observe the awfulness taking place nearby.

“Francis, Francis, Francis, _Francis_!” Slim chants in utter horror.

“Zey’re doomed!” Heimlich cries dramatically. “It is hopeless!”

“No, no it’s not,” Flik assures the circus bugs. “I have an idea.”

Up on the Ant Island ledge, the council is having a fit, unable to get a good look at what is going on down below. Atta’s eyes flash, and she turns and runs to a dew drop and piece of grass, quickly fiddling with them.

Sora watches, luckily spotting the Cockroach Heartless that appears over her head, looking ready to make a tasty meal of the queen-in-training’s heart. Thinking quickly, he summons the Keyblade and leaps, slashing through the creature in a single swing.

He lands with a huff, and Atta, some kind of telescope in her hands, rushes back to the council, acting none-the-wiser. Which Sora supposes is the point of his rescue, but still…

More Heartless appear, and the Keybearer quickly gets over himself, rushing back into the grass to meet them.

“Look!” Atta cries out, the telescope held up to her eyes. “The caterpillar is using himself as live bait!”

Indeed he is.

“Hey zere, Mr. Early Bird!” the caterpillar catcalls, acting as enticing is possible. “How’d you like to get this worm, yah? On a shtick and everysing!”

The aforementioned stick, Slim, is not happy with his current predicament, his spine bending with the weight of the hungry caterpillar pressed down upon him.

His sacrifice is worth it, thankfully, as the rest of the troupe ride atop Dim, making a beeline for the ravine where Dot, Francis, and Azlyn await rescue. The rhinoceros beetle holds Rosie beneath him, the black widow having constructed a net made of webbing to place the injured parties in.

The rescue party reaches the ravine and lowers the net, Flik, Tuck, and Roll helping to get everyone safely inside. They offer Azlyn a spot, but she declines, informing them rather impolitely that her arm is hurt, but her wings work fine.

The distraction team isn’t having nearly the same success. They had intended to retreat into another crevice, only to discover that Heimlich is too wide to enter, leaving him stuck with a bird on the way.

“Schnell, schnell!” the caterpillar screams, which is actually the opposite of helpful in this situation.

“C’mon, stop yelling and suck it in buddy!” Slim orders, tugging with all his might. Manny joins him from above, straining his old muscles to stuff Heimlich into the crevice.

The bird grows closer, hopping from crack to crack, stalking its prey in anticipation of the kill…

Cue Gypsy, who opens her wings before the savage beast, their wild patterns and colors distracting it. Slowly, she leads it away from Heimlich.

The rescue team is on its way back now, Dim buzzing through the air at about half his normal speed with the extra weight keeping him from cutting loose. His flight isn’t maintaining straightness, dipping and rising in wild fluctuations.

One of the dips is fast enough to produce a jarring motion, rousing Francis from unconsciousness. Upon realizing his predicament, the ladybug screams in fright.

“What is going on here?” he demands, frantically taking in all the many things going crazy around him.

“Everything’s fine,” Flik assures the clown. He’s holding Dot tight to him, keeping her steady in the intense winds that rock the webbing net. “Everything is gonna be okay!”

Until the Heartless arrive, that is.

Six winged Locust Heartless rise out of a nearby crevice, already heading straight for the rescue party. Azlyn notices and grimaces, reaching for her shield on instinct, in the process forgetting momentarily that her _arm_ is _broken_!

She remembers very quickly when a shot of pain spikes through her whole body, momentarily causing her wing beats to falter. She recovers, barely, but her body weaves and bobs drunkenly. Luckily, she’s close enough to Flik for the inventor to reach out his hand and help her into Rosie’s net. This doesn’t deter the Locusts however, the one in the lead closing in on the group fast…

A fireball crashes into the insectoid Heartless, setting its wings ablaze. It shrieks and falls back, colliding with another pair of Heartless and spreading its flames to them as well.

Two other Locusts weave around their burning cohorts, diving after Azlyn with their claws outstretched. Until, that is, they’re frozen solid by a powerful blizzard blast.

The final Locust makes a last attempt for the net and the bugs inside, but before it can even get closer, Telary leaps up on his powerful cricket legs, bringing his staff down on the final Heartless like a mallet.

“Telary!” Azlyn cries joyously, watching her counterpart fall back to the ground, only to leap upwards once again, sailing over Dim and landing neatly on the beetle’s back.

The wizard stays steady for a split second before collapsing, his legs completely exhausted from the fantastic leaps he had forced them to make. At least Azlyn is safe. And the others, of course.

 _Still_ not so, as he bird grows tired of Gypsy’s distraction when presented with the veritable bounty all tied up in one convenient beetle case. Roar-tweeting at Gypsy to scare the moth off, the bird turns and takes flight.

“Dim!” Rosie calls to her companion at the top of her lungs. “Pull up! We need more height.”

With all of the weight he’s carrying, it’s a struggle for the rhinoceros beetle to gain altitude, but he sets his face in steely resolve and pushes his large wings with all his might, rapidly rising up the sheer cliff face in front of him.

Down in the webbing net, the group holds each other close as the bird follows them up, its massive yellow beak opening wide to swallow them whole…

They break through a thicket of leafy bushes, just in time to avoid the bird, who is too massive to follow them through the gaps of the thin branches. Shrieking frustratedly, it tries to land, but its feet meet sharp thorns, and the finch lets out a screech of pain and anger, turning tail and flying away to the safety of its nest, where its baby eggs await the return of their mother.

The rescue team lets out relieved breaths, safely resting on the bush’s leaves, watching the bird soar away for a moment as they compose themselves.

“Azlyn!” Telary exclaims, kneeling by his friend and examining her injury thoroughly. “Thank goodness you’re okay, I was so worried!”

“Hey,” the knight replies, wincing as Telary moves her arm and sends a spike of pain shooting throughout her body, “if you hadn’t come in against those Heartless, I’d be a goner anyway.”

“Um, guys?” Rosie says suddenly, frowning slightly. “What’s… what is that noise?”

There is indeed a noise echoing all throughout the bush, a low roar, like a thousand tiny stones slapping against each other.

“That, my friends,” Manny says, breaking through the bush’s leaves and pulling one aside, “is the sound, of _applause_!”

The bush overlooks the anthill clearing, and gathered down in the space below is the entire colony, clapping and screaming and hollering wildly, even more enthusiastic than they’d been at the circus bugs’ arrival.

With the help of the flyers, the bugs descend from the bush down to the head of the crowd, where Slim and Heimlich already await them. The circus bugs are in complete awe, far from used to a satisfied audience, and complete strangers to praise for _heroism_ of all things.

“Applause!” Francis exclaims blearily, waving weakly at his adoring fans. “I’m in heaven!”

Across the clearing, Sora emerges from the grass, tired and sweating from a long, complicated battle with numerous Heartless. No one even remarks him. Par for the course, it seems.

“Oh, come _on_!” the Keybearer exclaims in abject frustration.

**KH-KH-KH**

Much later, once the excitement has died down, Flik, the circus bugs, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary reconvene in the largest room in the colony’s medical ward, Dr. Flora attending.

“So, you couldn’t just heal my arm magically _why?_ ” Azlyn demands of Telary through clenched teeth, more than a little perturbed at being laid up in bed (actually the head of a particularly soft flower) and made to wear a cast. A cast made by an _ant_ , no less! The circus bugs are in their own huddle around Francis, whose leg is similarly cast.

The wizard frowns apologetically. “It’s a physiology thing,” he explains sheepishly. “I can’t actually heal a hornet arm, since I don’t know exactly what a healthy hornet arm looks like, internally. It actually takes a fair amount of medical study to perform restorative magic.”

“So _that’s_ why you wouldn’t teach me that spell,” Sora declares, having recovered his self-esteem from its earlier beating. “I used to be kind of upset about that, but it turns out you saved me a lot of reading. Thanks!”

“Anything to keep you uneducated, Sora,” the wizard deadpans with a smile.

“Excuse me there fellas,” Dr. Flora coos softly, pushing aside the leafy flap hanging above the room’s door. “But there are a few little visitors here for the ladies!”

“Ladies?” Francis protests as a group of a dozen or so small ants enter the room, all of them beaming proudly and wearing some kind of odd capes made of leaves. One of the taller one holds a long stick with a leaf-flag flying from it, painted with a blue dot.

Azlyn gulps heavily. Those ants may be small, but she _is_ laid up and unable to escape in case they try something.

“Our Blueberry Troop extends its gratitude to you bugs, for rescuing Dot, our smallest member,” says the ant at the head. Beside her, Dot gives a little wave to the warriors. “And in special honor of Miss Francis and Miss Azlyn, we’ve changed out bandanas!”

The Blueberry Scouts turn around to reveal that half of them have black dots painted on their leaf capes, and the other half black stripes.

“Oh, how nice!” Telary says with a bright grin, patting the frowning Azlyn on her uninjured arm. “Isn’t it, Azlyn?” The knight just purses her lips and narrows her eyes.

“ _And_ ,” Dot chimes in cheerily, “we took a vote, and named you two our honorary denmothers!”

“WHAT!” Azlyn and Francis exclaim at the same time, their mouths dropping open as the Blueberry troops split in two groups, one half climbing into Francis’s bed and the other into Azlyn’s.

“Are you kidding me with this?” Francis grumbles.

“Happy place, happy place!” Azlyn chants frantically, her eyes winced shut.

“You’ll have to excuse Ms. Azlyn, kids,” Telary apologizes to the ant children with worried looks on their faces. “She’s just still a little excited after everything that’s happened. She’ll need a little time to, uh, get her head around this.”

“Me too!” Francis exclaims as the kids clamber to sign his cast. “My head needs a _whole_ lotta wrapping!”

“Alright girls, that’s enough,” Dr. Flora instructs the Blueberry troops, waving them towards the door. “The patients need their rest now!”

The small ants acquiesce, giggling and waving to their new mothers as the file out of the room, past where Princess Atta is standing nervously in the doorway.

“Uh, Flik,” the Princess says to the inventor, who turns away from signing Francis’s leg to face her. “May I, uh, speak to you for a moment?”

“Sure thing, Princess!” Flik says with a smile, following her out of the room.

“You can’t make me do this, Telary!” Azlyn threatens her partner, the hand of her unbroken arm curled into an angry fist.

“It’s _fine_ , Azlyn, they’re harmless _children_ for goodness sake,” her counterpart encourages her, an entirely unconvincing smile on his face. “And besides, you’re always telling me that I need to face my fears. Now, it’s your turn.”

“My fears are different,” Azlyn shoots back.

Telary crosses his arms and gives her a skeptical look. “How so?”

“Because _I’m_ the one who’s afraid of ‘em!”

Sora, getting a bit bored of this line of conversation, quietly slips out of the room, following Atta and Flik at a discreet distance.

“Boy, that’s all _I_ need,” Atta sighs. “Another royal blunder.”

“Hey, the warriors like you fine,” Flik replies. “They think you’re doing a great job, and so do I!”

Sora sticks his head around the corner. The two colony ants stand at the mouth of the medical tunnel, the vast atrium of the anthill stretching out above and below them. The carved tree root runs up and down it all, various branches spinning off to lead to even more tunnels that are of various uses to the colony. Glowing blue-white mushrooms, also used to light the tunnels, provide what illumination the sun above does not. Telary had babbled about its architecture all the way through Azlyn’s casting, most likely as a way to stave off his considerable nerves.

“Well, that’s very sweet of you to say,” Atta tells Flik with a subdued smile. “You’re completely _wrong_ , of course, but sweet.” Her smile turns slowly into a bitter frown. “I know what the colony really thinks of me. It’s obvious.”

Flik cocks his head at the purple ant. “Oh, no, that’s definitely not…”

“None of them think I can do this job,” she continues, gesturing demonstratively at a line of ants climbing up the root. “They all give me their sympathetic nods and polite smiles, but actually they’re all just waiting it out. Waiting…”

“For you to screw up,” Flik finishes sadly.

Atta looks at him, for the first time realizing just how much she and the inventor have in common.

“Flik,” she says sincerely, “I owe you an apology. Don’t deny it, I haven’t been very nice to you. I want to make it up to you, so…”

Flik’s mouth drops open, his mind providing a million different endings for the princess’s answer in a matter of microseconds.

“How would you like to be the _official_ liaison to the warriors!” she finishes, which is not one of the possibilities Flik had conceived.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, you’d be great at it!” Atta continues enthusiastically. “You have an amazing rapport with them, you know. You worked together great when that bird came after you.”

“Oh, well…” Flik says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “That was just… _Well_!”

“Hey, not every bug would be willing to face down a bird,” Atta continues supportively. “I mean, even _Hopper_ is afraid of them!”

Flik stops cold, going completely immobile except for his eyes widening and mouth opening. “Uh, what did you just say?”

“I said, ‘even Hopper is afraid of birds’,” Atta repeats, slowly this time.

“Uh huh,” Flik says, a bit numbly. He grips her hand for a quick moment. “Could you excuse me, for just _one_ second?”

The inventor turns abdomen and rushes back down the tunnel, inadvertently knocking aside the eavesdropping Sora. The Keybearer spins around, only barely managing to compose himself before Flik comes right back, spinning him the opposite way. He once again puts his head back together, just in time to hear a loud, distinct _smooch_ noise. Flik runs back again, and this time Sora follows along behind the inventor.

“Hopper’s afraid of birds!” Flik announces boisterously, entering Francis and Azlyn’s medical room like he’s just struck gold.

“I don’t blame him!” Francis says derisively.

“They’ve recently nudged out clowns for _my_ personal number one fear,” Azlyn announces, shuddering.

“It seems reasonable to me,” Telary concurs.

“Oh, this is fantastic!” Flik declares, throwing up his arms in ecstasy. “This is the greatest idea I’ve ever had! Nobody has to know I screwed up!” He stills himself and turns to the warriors. “All you have to do is keep pretending to be tough!”

“Hey, whoa there Flik!” Rosie complains, her voice rising above the perturbed din of her fellow performers. “There’s no way we are gonna fight grasshoppers.”

“I say again,” Sora interjects, his voice strained with anger, “ _I_ am willing to…”

“Oh, you’ll be long gone before Hopper and his goons show up, trust me,” Flik says placatingly. “All we have to do is…”

“Ha!” Manny guffaws dramatically, stepping up to Flik and poking the ant in his thorax. “That’s quite the thing to say, young man. ‘Trust you’, I mean really?” The praying mantis folds his arms adamantly. “No, we won’t be playing along with any more of your shenanigans or charades, that I promise!”

“Excuse me,” a small voice calls softly from the leaf flaps at the room’s entrance. Two young ants creep in, each one holding a leaf in his hands. “If it’s not too much trouble, we’d like the warriors’ autographs.”

“Autographs?” Slim says slowly, as if it’s a foreign word he’s never heard before in his life. And he really hasn’t, at least not directed at him.

“Of course ve vould!” Heimlich exclaims, plucking a stamen from a nearby flower and taking one of the boys’ leaves into his lower set of hands. He writes his name with the upper pair, then hands the leaf off to Gypsy.

“Oh, you guys were so cool today!” one of the boys exclaims, bouncing up and down happily as Slim signs his leaf. “I saw the whole thing!”

“The way you tricked the bird with your wings!” the other opines to Gypsy.

“Oh, you’re _far_ too kind!” the moth replies with a little blush.

After a few minutes, everyone has given the boys a signature, though Azlyn’s are quite sloppy as a result of the knight using her off hand.

“Oh man, they’re so cool!” one of the boys says to the other as they exit. “I wanna be a praying mantis when I grow up!”

“I’m gonna be a hornet!” his friend declares cheerily. “Or maybe a caterpillar, I just can’t decide!”

The circus bugs watch the boys leave with satisfied smiles on their faces, full of a strange feeling none of them has ever felt before.

“What nice young lads,” Manny comments with a light chuckle before turning to Flik. “Now, what was it you had in mind, my boy?”

Flik grins smugly right back at the old stage magician. “We,” he says with an odd new confidence, “are gonna build ourselves a bird!”

“Tweet tweet,” Sora deadpans.


	23. No More Waiting

The first rays of orange-pink sunlight have just begun to bathe Destiny Islands in their light when Kairi carefully sneaks out of her house, her black leather non-school bag slung over one shoulder.

She’s dressed casually, in a simple (if unnecessarily zippered) pink dress over a white tank top, a perfectly matching pair of pink and white shoes on her feet. Making sure that the front door of her house is locked, the girl starts off towards the mainland docks.

Besides one older woman walking her dog, the girl doesn’t see anyone on her trek through the neighborhood, a dozen or so large houses where those islanders with a great affinity for the beach have settled. Most of the rest of Mainland Town is on the other side of the hill, leaving Beachfront as a small, tightly-knit community.

It’s cool this morning, fall settling ever deeper into the islands. Mornings and evenings are really the only time the temperature ever edges away from tropical heat, and only a select few of Destiny Islands residents seem capable of withstanding it, Kairi among them.

In the back of her mind, she wonders if her early years spent in Hollow Bastion have something to do with her affinity for the cooler temperatures. Truth be told, the back of her mind is full of thoughts, wonderings recently reawakened.

The main docks jut out a fair distance into the water, and many larger to mid-size vessels are tied up there.

Kairi ignores the large wharf and heads up the sandy white beach to a smaller dock, a singular wooden rectangle known as Children’s Dock. The vessels moored there are little more than canoes of dark wood, mainly used by the youngsters of Destiny Islands for travel to their playground paradise.

It lies in the distance, and Kairi can’t help but stop and stare at it as she steps onto Children’s Dock, the wood creaking beneath her shoes. The small island holds a lot of memories, special ones that span a lifetime of carefree fun and games. That she had somehow forgotten most of them makes Kairi squirm inside, wondering what could have brought on the strangely specific amnesia that seemed to grip the whole island where Sora was concerned, only just recently cleared away like a fog bank blown out to sea by the wind.

“Hey, Kairi!” a familiar voice calls from down the beach, startling the auburn-haired girl out of her quiet reflection.

Turning, she sees Wakka and Tidus running up the beach, both dressed in sweatpants with chests bare. Wakka is smiling and waving at her, but Tidus’s face is just set in determination.

“Hi guys,” the girl greets her friends as they approach. Silently, she berates herself for not considering early morning exercise enthusiasts in her plans. “Having a good run?”

“You know it!” Wakka replies with a wide grin, stopping and leaning over to catch his breath, hands on his knees. Tidus doesn’t stop, just starts running in place. “Gotta keep Tidus here in good shape if he’s going to see any more playtime this season.” He reaches out and thumps his exercise companion on the back, accidentally knocking the younger boy to the ground.

Kairi giggles into her hand at the display, though it does awaken a few unfortunate memories of Riku and Sora’s antics.

“Hey!” Tidus exclaims with a glare, standing up and brushing sand off of himself.

“You needed a break anyway,” Wakka teases, ignoring the pout on Tidus’s face. He looks back up at Kairi instead. “What brings you out here so early? You’re obviously not dressed up for running.”

“Oh,” Kairi answers with an awkward shrug. “I was just, um…” She takes a minute to try and come up with an excuse, but ultimately just decides to tell the truth. Most of the truth, anyway. “I’m heading out to the play island.”

Wakka raises an eyebrow at that. “Oh, yeah?” he asks, looking out to the island for a brief moment before looking back into the girl’s eyes. “I thought Selphie told me you weren’t going out there again until Sora and Riku came back. Why the sudden change?”

Kairi sighs and looks away, back up the mainland rather than out to the island. She shrugs before answering. “I know I said that, and at first I thought that’s what I really wanted, but now that it’s been so long… I’m starting to adjust to the idea that they might _not_ be coming back.”

Wakka’s, and even Tidus’s, eyes are both full of pity when the girl look back down at them.

“You don’t believe that Kairi,” Wakka tells her. “You _can’t_. Things may look bad right now, but you’ve gotta have hope that you’ll see them again.”

“Yeah!” Tidus agrees, his first actual contribution to the conversation. “I mean, Sora still owes me a rematch anyway, and Riku… Well, okay, I know how Riku felt about being stuck here, but he knows you’re here waiting for him. He wouldn’t want to make you sad. He’d do anything for you.”

Kairi can’t help but wince internally at _that_ reminder. It had been, after all, the love of Kairi that had motivated many of Riku’s dark actions last year. Intellectually she knows she isn’t responsible for her older friend’s choices, but it still hurts to be reminded.

“I suppose you guys are right,” she replies to the boys’ encouragement, smiling down at them thinly before looking back up at the play island. “But maybe that’s just another reason to head out there. Remind myself of all the good times, and get ready for some more.”

“Now that’s the spirit, Kairi!” Wakka says encouragingly. “Ya just gotta keep your chin up, stay positive. Like Tidus said, they’ll be back. No way would they leave you here alone.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” she says, nodding appreciatively. After a second, she throws in a playful wink. “Words of wisdom are always that much more appreciated when they come from such studly guys.”

Wakka laughs at her joke, but the younger Tidus turns an intense red all over.

“Hey, any time you want me to take my shirt off and have a talk with you, I’ll be available,” Wakka tells her with an accompanying finger point, laughing at his running partner’s sudden change in complexion. “C’mon, man, we still have a few laps to go.”

The boys wave goodbye and take off, Kairi watching for a few moments before she throws her bag into a boat and clambers in after it. Her heart may belong to Sora, but there truly is no bad angle from which to look at Wakka.

She sets out for the play island, arms working the boat’s oars with powerful strokes. As she goes further across the bay, she can’t help but feel a little bad about lying to Wakka and Tidus.

This actually _won’t_ be her first time back to the special playground island since Sora and Riku left. As a matter of fact, she’s been coming back fairly regularly ever since Sora and Telary shot back to the forefront of her memory.

A raft won’t build itself, after all.

Kari ties up her boat at the small wooden dock at the north end of the beach, quickly walking down the small stairway to the sand and resolutely _not_ looking at the spot at the dock’s end where she had first been brave enough to kiss Sora on his cheek.

She marches straight for the cove, also ignoring the bushes that lead to the jungle clearing and the secret cave, the spot on the beach she’d found Sora napping many times, and the small islet the Destiny Islands trio had often gathered on to watch the sun set. She needs to be here to do her work, but that doesn’t mean she has to assault her psyche with bittersweet memories every time she comes, either.

Finally she reaches the cove, grabbing at the palm leaves concealing her raft. It’s only half-finished, and Kairi is under no illusions that it will be at all pretty when it’s done, but all that matters is whether or not it floats.

The first two hadn’t, but if there’s one thing Kairi isn’t, it’s a quitter. Not with the boy she loves, an older brother she barely knows, and two childhood friends somewhere out in the vastness of the universe.

Sora had told her, after the Door to Darkness had been sealed and the worlds destroyed by the Heartless began to restore themselves, that he would come back to her. She believed him of course, trusting that the boy would never stop trying to get home to her.

But that had been over a year ago, and before the strange period in which she’d had no memory of him, Azlyn, or Telary. Obviously something had gone wrong on their journey, and despite the fact that the glitch had been resolved, the thought of something or someone taking out her precious memories had infuriated Kairi, and the accompanying thought of someone possibly hurting Sora or Telary along the way doubly so.

With no other way to express this anger, she’d decided to do something constructive with it. After all, Sora and the Disney Castle pair could be in terrible danger right at this moment…

**KH-KH-KH**

“Aaaah!” Azlyn cries out in anguish, wincing at the horrible pain that has suddenly assaulted her. She clenches her jaw and tries to fight it, but it just keeps coming in a horrible, steady wave of discomfort. “Oh, ouch!”

“What’s wrong, Miss Azlyn?” asks Blueberry Scout Sprout, standing the agreed upon three arm lengths distance away from her hornet denmother.

Azlyn shakes her head, the pain finally receding. With one last shiver, she lowers the cup from her lips.

“Just a little brain freeze,” the laid-up knight answers before taking another sip of the berry smoothie in her uninjured hand. “Other than that, this really is excellent.”

“You should try dipping a little bit of grain in it!” Francis suggests from across the room. His half of the troop is currently learning poker, while the ants under Azlyn’s charge have ‘kitchen fun time’.

“Y’know,” Azlyn admits, leaning further back in her flower bed as a few more scouts enter with a large grain piece, “maybe you bugs aren’t so bad after all!”

**KH-KH-KH**

… And if they need help, Kairi is ready and willing to give it. She may not have much combat skill to speak of, but surely being a Princess of Heart must afford her some kind of special abilities that could prove useful.

It isn’t a very rational plan, but who ever said that love, friendship, and family had to be rational all of the time? Just because Kairi is a princess doesn’t mean she has to sit in her metaphorical tower and wait.

“Waiting isn’t good enough anymore,” she firmly declares, opening her bag and pulling out a few materials.

“My thoughts exactly.”

Kairi can’t help but scream, her entire body jolting in surprised. Her tools and materials go flying in the air before landing softly in the sand.

She turns around to see a man approaching. He’s tall, lanky, and dressed in a black coat and underclothes. Is hair is red, but a much brighter shade than Kairi’s and longer, designed in elaborate spikes.

Despite knowing not to judge a book by its cover, Kairi instinctively distrusts this man. Something just seems _off_ about him.

“Who are you?” she asks suspiciously. Every muscle in her body is tensed, though whether she should attack for flee she hasn’t quite decided yet. “What are you doing here?”

The man smiles. “My name’s Axel,” he announces, smiling kindly. Kairi isn’t convinced, somehow sensing that there isn’t much genuine feeling behind it. “And I came here to see you. Y’see, I know Sora.”

Just the name alone is enough to set Kairi’s heart ablaze. “You do?”

Axel nods. “I guess you could say I’m a friend of a friend,” he explains with a knowing chuckle. “I can take you to him, you know.” He spares a glance at her raft. “Not that you don’t have a perfectly nice little vessel right there, of course.”

Kairi thinks of how great it would be, seeing Sora again, finally being able to tell him that she loves him too, just as he had shouted to her across the void between worlds. The raft, in hindsight, was nothing but a pipe dream, a desperate measure that was never guaranteed to work. To finally have a real, reliable way to see Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Riku again makes Kairi hot all over, all of her emotions seemingly set on fire…

“ _Bark, bark_!”

The out-of-place noise breaks Kairi free from her dreamy reverie. Turning to the source of the barks, she sees a yellow dog come bounding up the cove, its long black ears flopping up and down as it runs. A green collar is fixed around its neck.

“Oh, geeze,” Axel mutters to himself, shaking his head at the wrench in his plan. “Well, this is just typical, isn’t it?”

The dog stops in front of Kairi and lets out another bark, this one a higher-pitched yip of delight. Then it looks past Kairi, to Axel, and lets out a cautious, angry growl.

“He doesn’t seem to like you very much,” Kairi points out, suddenly wary once again despite the warmth she still feels at the thought of a reunion with the people most precious to her.

Axel chuckles nervously and shrugs. “Hey, I’m not much of a dog person, alright?” he says flippantly, scoffing once. “Now, are we gonna go see your boyfriend or not?”

Kairi looks from the dog, still eyeing up Axel distastefully, back to the man in black. Suddenly, an idea comes to mind.

“So, you say you can bring me to Sora,” she says to Axel, letting herself sound skeptical. She frowns and crosses her arms across her chest. “What about my brother, huh? Will I see him too?”

“Uh, sure you will!” Axel assures the Princess of Heart, smiling. That redheaded boy he’d seen palling around with the Keybearer, it had to be. The sissy one. “You know that brother of yours, he never leaves Sora’s side.”

Kairi nods. “I see.” Now comes the time for the kill shot. “And my sister?”

Axel has to think a moment. The blonde girl, who always looked angry and yelled a lot. “Her too!”

“Uh huh,” Kairi says with a smirk, nodding slowly once before looking Axel in the eyes, her own hardened in determination. “I don’t _have_ a sister, Axel. If you were friends with Sora, you’d know that.”

The dog barks a few times more, happily.

Axel scowls, his hands clenching into fists. Outsmarted by a teenage girl! No wonder he’d hardly ever been given the good missions.

“All right then,” the redheaded Nobody declares with a deceptively casual shrug. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way. No skin off my back, I suppose.”

With a snap of his fingers, Axel summons four Dusks, surrounding Kairi with the twitching white creatures.

Having no knowledge of Nobodies to work off of, Kairi immediately comes to the conclusion that these must be some kind of Heartless. She remembers the Heartless well, something dark in the back of her mind shuddering at the recollection.

“Y’know, I’m kind of upset that we had to come to this,” Axel says, clasping his hands behind his back and stepping slowly forward. “We actually do have quite a bit in common, Kairi.” His smugness falters for a brief second before returning full force. “We both miss someone we care about.”

A sudden whistle pierces the air, the kind of sound that could only come from a human mouth. The yellow dog’s ears perk up immediately, turning around and staring out from between two Dusks. Kairi follows his gaze, and in a split second a strange purple portal emerges.

“What?” Axel exclaims, taking a step back in sheer surprise. This wasn’t part of the plan!

The dog wastes no time once the portal appears, bounding through the Dusk defense and rushing into it head-on. Kairi hesitates briefly, but remembers how intuitive the dog had been about Axel’s intentions.

“Now, c’mon, Kairi,” Axel cajoles her, smiling his slick smile once again. “Remember what I said about us having things in common, eh? I almost feel like we’re connected, y’know? Like friends?”

Kairi spares the man in black a disdainful look. “Yeah, well you’re not _acting_ very friendly!”

The Princess of Heart turns on a dime and sprints for the portal, her face set in focused determination.

One of the Dusks launches itself at her, twisting its serpentine body to get around in front of the girl. Instinctively, Kairi reaches out to swat it away, her hand momentarily glowing in a burst of white light.

For a split second, Kairi thinks that she can spot something _inside_ the light, a metallic shaft of burnished bronze…

The light fades, and Kairi hears an outraged cry rise up from Axel behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she sees the man summoning fire to his hands that coalesces into two chakrams, perfect for throwing and thwarting her escape.

With an equally loud cry of her own, Kairi reaches into the depths of her pure heart once more, throwing out a ball of light that hits Axel square in the chest before he can make a move to fling his weapons.

His screams are the last thing Kairi hears before she dives into the purple portal, which neatly shuts itself behind her.

Axel just stands on the sandy ground for a second, staring at the space the Dark Corridor once occupied.

“That girl,” he sighs, dismissing his chakrams in a momentary blaze, “is one tough bitch.”

Footsteps sound behind the Nobody, and he turns to see a well-built man in an Organization coat, hood up to conceal his face.

“Oh, this is just what I need right now!” Axel sighs, throwing up his hands at the infinite cruelty of the universe. “That you, Saïx?”

“No,” the hooded man replies in a deep, somehow familiar voice. Purple light flashes momentarily in his right hand, fading out and leaving behind a red and purple sword that resembles the wing of some terrible demon. The man settles back into a fighting pose, raising his blade to his hood, parallel to the ground. “But after what you just called that girl, you’re going to wish I was.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“You know,” Kairi admits to herself out loud, taking a look around, “I’m beginning to think that trusting a dog to lead me into a shadowy portal wasn’t the smartest thing I could’ve done.”

The Princess of Heart stands in what can only be described as a void, a vast empty space of swirling color, stretching on forever in all directions. Even beneath the solid but invisible ground Kairi finds herself standing on.

The yellow dog bounds up to her again, and she looks down, reading the small platinum tag hanging from its collar.

“Pluto,” she says out loud, just to fill the silence. Pluto obliges her in that regard as well, barking happily and giving her a sloppy canine kiss on the cheek. “Thanks boy.” She stands back up and squares her shoulders, resolving to press on. “C’mon, there has to be some way out of here.”

They walk side-by-side for what feels like hours, never seeming to actually get anywhere. Everywhere she looks, Kairi just finds the same vague blue and green backdrop.

“How are we supposed to get out of here?” she asks Pluto, thoroughly frustrated. “And where even _is_ here anyway? It looks kind of like that weird Gummi space, but I can breathe, and there’s obviously some kind of solid ground, even though I can’t see it. Can you think of anything? Anything at all?”

Pluto just looks up at her, panting. His tongue flops out of his mouth, and quickly the pooch employs it to lick his snout.

“Of course not, you’re a dog,” Kairi sighs, sinking to the ground. “I have no idea where I am, how I got here, or how to get out, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary could still be in danger, weird light shoots out of my hands, and now I’m talking to a dog.” She wipes frustratedly at her suddenly wet eyes. “This is definitely not what I had in mind when I woke up this morning.”

Pluto, sensing the girl’s discomfort as dogs seem naturally capable of doing, nuzzles up to her side, giving her another affectionate lick. Kairi giggles, wiping away a falling tear before dedicating both hands to give Pluto a good petting. He deserves it, after all he’s done for her today.

She’s not sure how long she sits there in the void, petting Pluto, but just as the reality of her situation begins to come back to her, another whistle, the same exact pitch as the one that had seemingly summoned Pluto to the portal, echoes around in the void.

The girl looks up just in time to spot a sudden white light, coming from not too far ahead. She pushes Pluto away a bit and stands, watching as the light coalesces into a bell-shaped portal.

“Okay,” Kairi says to herself, internally debating her next course of action. “So if a weird dark portal took us here, then I guess it’s only reasonable that a light portal takes us out. But _where_ , exactly?”

Pluto, evidently not burdened by the same questions as the Princess of Heart, bounds happily into the light, tail wagging excitedly all the way through. After taking a deep, steadying breath, Kairi follows after him.

Just as she reaches the threshold of the light, suddenly she feels something, an odd chill up her spine. There’s someone else here with her now.

Slowly turning her head back, she spies a man in black, the coat identical to the one Axel wore. Kairi knows this should upset her, but somehow she feels completely at ease with the stranger, hood and all. It’s like she can see underneath it somehow, and whoever’s there is someone she knows.

Someone she trusts.

She hardly has time to accept the odd sensation before the light in front of her reacts. She turns into it, just in time to see that it seems to be growing, reaching out to envelope her inside of itself…

**KH-KH-KH**

An alley.

“Okay, sure,” Kairi sighs, hands on her hips as she surveys the new surroundings. It’s small, surrounded by orange bricked buildings, and above her the sky is the pink and orange and yellow of sunset. “Doesn’t make any less sense than anything else.”

Suddenly it hits her, neurons colliding in her mind like the Light against Axel’s chest. This must be another world!

“Well, what do you know?” she says incredulously, looking around once again with a fresh enthusiasm. She’s still standing in a dirty alley, but at least she has the satisfaction of know she stands in a dirty alley _in a different world_. “Looks like we made it after all, Pluto. Pluto?”

The yellow pooch is nowhere to be found. He must have ran off while Kairi was fixated on the man in black.

“Pluto!” she calls, heading for the mouth of the alley, a ramp leading upwards. “Pluto, where are you? C’mere, Pluto!”

“Uh, excuse me,” says a voice behind the Princess of Heart, female and young-sounding.

Turning, Kairi sees a brunette girl approaching, a friendly smile on her face.

“Hello,” Kairi says, waving slightly. “Sorry about the yelling, I just…”

“Lost your dog?” the girl suggests, looking genuinely concerned. “That’s awful. I’m Olette. What does he look like?”

“Uh, he’s a pretty big yellow lab, with these long, floppy black ears,” the offworlder girl replies. “He’s wearing red collar with a platinum tag. The tag says, uh, Pluto. That’s his name.”

“I figured,” Olette giggles. She raises a questioning eyebrow. “And what’s your name?”

“Kairi.”

Olette smiles. “That’s really pretty. Anyway, I’d be happy to help you find your dog. I can even get my friends to…”

“Oh, it’s not _my_ dog,” Kairi interrupts. “I just, um…”

“Summer job?” Olette suggests. “Are you some kind of dogsitter?”

“No, I’m not.” Kairi scratches at her arm awkwardly, then smooths her dress, not knowing what else to do with her hands. “And the dog isn’t my job, I just, y’know, kind of found him. Well, actually he found me, and then I… Y’see, there was this.” The auburn-haired girl groans, rubbing her temples. “Man, this stuff is tough. I don’t know how _Sora_ could…”

“Wait, _Sora_?” Olette blurts, thankfully stopping Kairi’s awkward, nonsensical rambling. “You know Sora?”

“Um, yeah I do.”

Olette’s face splits in a wide smile. “Wow, that’s so… And, uh, the redheaded guy? The blonde girl?”

“Yes!” Kairi exclaims, glad to have apparently found a connection to Sora’s whereabouts. “Yeah, I know them all. Are they here, on this world… Uh, I mean in town?”

Olette shakes her head, the smile turning upside down. “No, they left… Gee, a few weeks ago!”

“Oh.” Kairi’s face falls, her enthusiasm suddenly gone.

“But, uh, they could be back,” Olette says, overdoing the optimism just a tad. “After all, Sora seemed really upset about having to leave.” The brunette suddenly shakes her head, as if clearing away all of the odd events of the past few minutes. “You know what, I know a much better place to talk about all this. C’mon, I’ll show you.”

“Okay, sure.” Kairi walks a few paces before suddenly remembering something, quickly whirling on her heel. “But wait, what about Pluto?”

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Olette assures the new girl, cupping her shoulder and turning her around. “We can look for him later, I’m sure Hayner and Pence would love to help. For now, I think I’d like to hear about Sora. He seemed like kind of an odd kid.”

Kairi laughs, actually feeling safe for the first time in what feels like forever. “Oh, man, Olette. You really don’t know the half of it!”

The girls link arms as they make their way through a chain-link fence, Kairi already telling a story about Sora, three angry sand crabs, and some lost swim trunks.


	24. Juggling Act

As Telary and Slim approach Francis and Azlyn’s shared room in the medical tunnel, the familiar sounds of little ant girls fill their audio receptors.

Pushing aside the “door”, the cricket and the walkingstick take in the sight before them. On one side of the room, girls with polka dot embossed capes all sit around Francis’s flower bed, each one holding a small set of cards in their hands and peering down at them intently. If Telary is recalling correctly, today’s card game of choice is gin rummy.

In the other half of the room, Azlyn watches as ant girls in horizontal-stripe capes practice basic forms and movements of hand-to-hand combat. None of them are actually fighting, however, since spar time isn’t until after lunch.

“Hi yah!” exclaims one blueberry scout, unleashing a kick that Telary is sure would be devastating if used on an opponent.

“Gin!” Dot calls out, laying down her cards triumphantly. The other scouts, and Francis, stare at her, outraged. “Ha! Pony up, suckers.”

“Dot, we’re not actually playing for munny,” little Daisy points out. She turns to glare at the newly arrived bugs. “Mr. Telary told us to stop.” The other Blueberries join the normally timid girl in her staring.

“Hey,” the wizard says defensively, “I only said that because Azlyn isn’t very good at cards…”

“I heard that!” the battle-damaged knight calls out indignantly from her bed.

“…And I didn’t want anyone to have to face the terrible consequences of her losing out on munny,” Telary finishes calmly.

“And after the first round, I agreed with him too!” Francis chimes in, rubbing at his head. “Almost lost an antenna to that crazy broad.”

“And don’t you forget that I was using my _off_ arm, Frannie!” Azlyn yells back, letting out a hearty chuckle at the nickname Francis so despises.

“Anyway,” Slim says, steering the conversation back in the right direction. “We just came because we knew you all wanted to see the leaf riding today.”

“Is it that time already?” Azlyn asks, scratching her head with her unbroken arm. “Man, time sure flies fast down here.”

“It does seem like just yesterday Manny was presenting the plans to the council, yeah,” Telary agrees with a nod. “But, now it’s time for the leaves, and I think we all know some girls who are excited to watch…”

The Blueberry scouts squeal as one, gathering into a mob and rushing out the door.

“Man, can those girls scream,” Francis declares, shaking his head fondly. “Pretty soon my leg will be all healed up, only by then I won’t be able to hear anything anymore.”

“True that,” Azlyn agrees as Telary helps her to her feet. She rolls her eyes and shoves her counterpart off. “I can walk just fine, Tel. It’s my _arm_ that’s broken, if you remember. Hey, where are we on the healing effort anyway?”

“I’ve almost figured it out,” Telary says, addressing both Azlyn and Francis, who Slim is going to have to physically carry in his lower set of arms. “I just need another day or so maybe, and then I can heal you all up easy.”

“That’s a relief,” Francis says, glaring up at Slim. “Because I gotta tell ya, I think I’ll only be comfortable doing this for one trip.”

Telary helps Azlyn up, despite her loud protestations, and the quartet make their way through the medical tunnel and out of the anthill, into the warm late afternoon light.

The clearing is packed full of ants, all of them chattering excitedly about the event about to take place. In the center of the bodies sits the half-finished bird. Its body is made of large sticks bound together by Rosie’s webbing, its wingspan extending an impressive foot. Two halves of a split walnut serve as the artificial avian’s beak, and there’s enough seating inside for a dozen ants to work the wing-flapping mechanism. Overall, it’s an incredibly impressive achievement of engineering and design.

“And now comes the fun part,” Flik tells Sora with a grin, helping the Keybearer climb atop Dim’s back. “Well, the _conventionally_ fun part. I personally think testing tensile strength and calculating drag coefficients is fun, but I imagine other bugs might disagree.”

“Oh, you don’t have to imagine,” Sora replies, rolling his eyes and looking upward at the looming tree branches. Most all of the once-green leaves have completed their color change, now an explosion of bright, warm hues.

“Alright, Dim, it’s time!” Flik informs their rhinoceros beetle mount, who giggles and starts his wings buzzing, lifting the pair up into the sky. All around them the other flying bugs make their way up to the tree branches as well, some carrying non-winged ants along for the ride. “Hey, Sora?”

“Yeah?” the boy asks, noting that Flik is looking pretty solemn for such an exciting occasion.

“I’m, uh, well I’m sorry about how much I’ve been ignoring you all this week,” the inventor says with a hint of a sigh, shaking his head. “Telary told me all about what you did with those Heartless things during the bird escapade, and I wanted to let you know that I appreciate that just as much as anything any of the flashier bugs have done.”

Sora smiles back at the ant. “Hey, thanks,” he replies with a wide grin. “And don’t worry about ignoring me. I mean, you’ve had kind of a busy week. Between designing the bird, keeping the circus bugs’ secret, and, heh, Princess Atta…” This he follows up with a wink and a nudge.

“What?” Flik exclaims indignantly, looking away in embarrassment. “Why would you say it like that? My duties require me to have a close relationship with Atta. Uh, I mean with the princess. It’s all part of being liaison.”

“Sure thing,” Sora says.

“Oh, I think you have a different kind of liaison I mind when it comes to Princess Atta, eh buddy?” Azlyn chimes in suddenly, appearing beside Dim as her buzzing wings carry her up the tree.

“Of course not, Azlyn,” Flik shoots back dismissively. He does a quick double take. “Wait a minute, _Azlyn_?”

“What are you doing, buzzhead?” Sora asks his companion, shocked to see her airborne. “There’s no way Telary let you fly with your arm like it is!”

Azlyn scoffs at the suggestion she needs Telary’s permission for anything. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him: If he can catch me, he can stop me.”

“Even so, you’re gonna get one heck of a talking to,” Sora reminds the girl.

“Oooh, I’m shaking,” the hornet mocks, putting on a burst of speed and getting ahead of Dim and the ants.

“See, Flik, I know what I’m talking about where these hidden crushes are concerned,” Sora says, nodding sagely once, then stopping and frowning. “So I’ll tell you straight up, it gets kind of old after a while, so take the opportunities you have.”

The discussion is curtailed out of necessity, as the pair have arrived at their designated branches. They hop off Dim’s back and take their positions, other ants already standing ready at theirs.

“Alright everybody!” the voice of Thorny booms up to the waiting group. He and several others have taken up position in a huge hollow near the top of the tree, his voice projected through a giant shell, much like the one that will soon be installed inside the bird to simulate screeching cries. “Take your leaps!”

At the sound of the small ant’s command, everyone waiting in the branches takes a leap out into the air, landing neatly on the tree’s dried leaves.

Sora lands on a leaf the color of sunset, his momentum snapping its stem with a crisp _crack_ sound. All around him, others do the same. Even Azlyn, injury be damned.

The rush is incredible, the feeling of free falling through the air surging through Sora’s body. Even Feather Falling doesn’t feel this good. Emboldened, Sora begins twisting his body, swerving spinning like he’s on a skateboard in midair.

It’s odd how natural it comes to him, as if he’s been doing this all his life, his body trained to know how to work the board. Suddenly, an image rises unbidden to the Keybearer’s mind, of rolling fast down a steep hill, the perpetual twilight sun hanging in the sky above him…

“Look at me!” Heimlich calls out, cackling in his heavy accent. Turning, Sora sees that the large caterpillar holds four leaves, one in each hand. Every few seconds he gives them a flap to reduce the speed of his fall. “I am like a beautiful butterfly! Behold my majestic splendor!”

Sora looks away. ‘Majestic’ is certainly not the word he’d use to describe Heimlich at the present moment. Or at any moment ever, actually.

Eventually the boy reaches the ground, bending his knees to absorb the impact as all around him other ants and circus bugs do the same. He looks up at the last few stragglers, the different red, yellow, and orange leaves catching his eye one by one.

Not far away, Azlyn lets out a _whoop_ as she lands, but it’s cut short when the jolt of touchdown travels up her body and takes a detour into her injured arm. As the pain in the limb sharpens, she takes a deep breath in.

“Well, well, well,” Telary’s voice comes from behind her, sounding more smug than usual. The knight winces again, though this one comes from an entirely different kind of pain.

“I’m _fine_ , Tel,” she sighs, turning to face her counterpart. He looks as smug as he sounded, arms crossed over his chest. In this form his facial muscles aren’t developed enough to raise his eyebrow, and he doesn’t _have_ an eyebrow besides, but Azlyn can just imagine it.

He _can_ however, still roll his eyes. “You know I just…” he begins, but halfway through he lets out a breath and shakes his head. “Look, I’m sorry about all the hovering I’ve been doing this last week.” He steps closer to her. “It’s just that I’m not used to seeing you hurt and not being able to do something about it. You know I don’t want you to mess up your arm even more.”

“I know,” Azlyn replies, with an eye roll of her own. They’re standing very close now, and suddenly, looking into Telary’s eyes, the knight feels a familiar recklessness…

“Uh, earth to Denmother A!” Francis exclaims from close by.

Startled, Azlyn and Telary jump apart from each other. Still very glad that bugs don’t blush, Azlyn turns to face her fellow denmother.

“What?” she replies, a bit harsher than intended.

Francis is once again in Slim’s arms, and he seems unhappy about it. “Uh, the kids want to know if they can skip out on kickboxing this afternoon.”

“Flik and Atta said we could help feather the bird!” Dot exclaims, obviously proud to be able to participate. “Can we _please_?”

Azlyn smiles down at the girls. “Of course you can. But just know that this means we can’t start canasta until Thursday.”

For a moment the troops huddle together, whispering amongst themselves.

“That’s okay,” Dot says when the huddle breaks up.

“Then go on ahead,” Azlyn encourages the young ants, who all give her a crisp salute before running off.

Already the rest of the colony is hard at work, following Flik’s grand design for outfitting the bird in realistic colors.

“I’m gonna go lie down for a while,” Francis reports.

“I can stay up here, keep an eye on the girls,” Azlyn assures the ladybug.

Telary waits for Francis and Slim to get out of earshot before giving his counterpart a broad smile.

She notices quickly, narrowing her eyes at the wizard. “What exactly are you looking at?”

“Oh nothing,” Telary lies. “It’s just that, well, you actually make a pretty great den mother.”

She shrugs. “Well, I learned from the best.” Punching Telary on the shoulder lightly, she makes her way over to where Sora and Rosie are trying to decipher leaf placements.

Telary watches her go for a minute. It takes him that long to understand what it was she just said to him.

“Hey!” he exclaims to himself once he gets it.

**KH-KH-KH**

Two days later, the bird is complete, covered in leafy feathers and ready to fly. Well, not actually fly, that would be impossible, but it’s tethered to a strong tree branch by a thick cord that can bear its weight even once there are ants inside to operate its sham wing beats.

By this time Francis and Azlyn’s healings are also complete, neither of them all that much worse for wear. The only real suffering came from Telary explaining to Dr. Flora why it was that _she_ couldn’t learn his technique.

In celebration of their hard work and good fortune, the colony has thrown a grand (by ant standards) party, every ant celebrating the great achievement they’d all come together to accomplish.

Sora watches it all from his spot in the middle of a very long conga line, ants stepping and kicking in time with the boisterous music of the colony band. All around him are happy bugs, eating, drinking, and dancing in jubilation.

He smiles to himself as he glances towards the limbo line, where Telary looks to be in the midst of deep mental preparations for his turn to dance underneath Slim. Despite his usual tirades against being used as a prop, the walkingstick actually seems to be having a fun time with it, cajoling and encouraging the game’s participants.

Telary closes his eyes and bends back, his entire face pinching up as he makes his way under Slim. For a split second it seems as if the wizard is going to make it, but his long cricket legs and tendency to psyche himself out get him in the end, and Telary falls to the ground, out of the game.

He quickly moves aside to make way for Princess Atta to have her turn, as the queen arrives at his side with a smile, pulling him up and dragging him over to the dance floor, a patch of bare earth surrounded by luminescent mushrooms filtered through orange leaves to provide mood lighting.

Sora disengages from the conga line with a shake of his shoulders, just in time to run into Flik, who looks at the Keybearer nigh-manically.

Near the snack table, also illuminated by leaf-filtered light, Azlyn and Francis are just finishing up holding court with the Blueberry Scouts.

“Okay, you little rascals, go have a good time,” Francis encourages the girls, who grin and nod at their denmothers before scattering. “And, hey, quit beatin’ the boys up!”

“Unless they really deserve it!” Azlyn adds with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. After tracking the girls for a few seconds, she looks down at Francis with a grin. “Man, those kids really do grow on ya, don’t they?”

“Oh yes they do,” the ladybug agrees with a smile of his own.

The rest of the “warriors” come over to stand by the denmothers, the troupe watching the party together, all of them looking happy as can be.

“Some party,” Slim comments, shaking out his limbs and back, still a bit stiff from limbo.

“Some colony,” Rosie agrees. “Do you know I even found someone who listened to the stories of _every one_ of my husbands’ deaths? That’s never happened. Not even you guys are willing to sit still for those sob stories!”

“Hey, I did once!” Francis protests. “Sure, it was because we were cooped up in the back of the travel cart for four hours, but I could’ve jumped out, and I didn’t!”

“The point is,” Manny interrupts, wrapping a contented arm around his wife, “this is quite the life we’ve stumbled into, isn’t it?”

Sora approaches, looking far too casual for it not to be feigned. “Hey there, guys,” he greets the circus bugs nonchalantly.

“Hi there, Sora,” Rosie says, looking a bit suspicious. “What’s up?”

The Keybearer leans in close. “Okay, Flik has the plan all in place,” he whispers, looking once over his shoulder to make sure there are no eavesdroppers around. “He’s gonna tell everyone you’re stationed deep in the command bunker. As soon as the party starts to quiet down, you sneak out the back, and you’ll be gone forever.”

“Even us?” Azlyn asks. Behind her, the circus bugs look more than a little melancholy.

Sora shrugs. “I talked to Telary about it, and he said that if we haven’t found… Y’know, what we’re looking for, by now, then it probably isn’t anywhere on Ant Island. We might as well look somewhere else.”

Azlyn seems rather unhappy with that decision. “And why didn’t you two feel the need to consult me on this?”

“Hey guys!” Flik announces loudly, waving at Sora, Azlyn, and the circus bugs. Switching to a lower voice, he asks, “Did Sora tell you about my plan? Just a few more hours and then you’re outta here!”

“Dim don’t wanna go,” Dim says simply, his upper lip wobbling as if he’s holding back tears. “Dim wanna stay here.”

“Well,” Rosie chimes in, shrugging helplessly, “if Dim stays, then I have to stay too. He, uh, still isn’t quite housetrained yet.”

“And the girls are still having a little trouble with canasta,” Francis adds. “What kinda denmother would leave ‘em in the lurch like that?”

“It seems that we’ve been booked for an extended engagement!” Gypsy proclaims grandly.

Tuck and Roll, one standing on the other’s shoulders, walk up to Flik and give the inventor two quick kisses on either cheek. Flik smiles, and Sora lights up too.

“We’re not leaving yet either Sora,” Azlyn firmly informs her companion, pulling him off to the side. “I know it seems like the portal opening doohickey isn’t here, but we carried around the Olympus Stone for a long time before it worked. We’ve at least gotta stay until the grasshoppers get here. If something happens to the bird, the colony is gonna need backup. Besides, if this Hopper guy doesn’t show up with a mess of Heartless under his command, I’ll eat my shield. He sounds like the exact kind of person who would attract them.”

Sora considers the knight’s words for a moment, then nods. “You’re right,” he agrees. “I’ll tell Telary when I see him. I wanted to stay, anyway, but he said we should try and get off this world as soon as possible.”

“Why’s that?”

Sora shrugs. “All he said is that you were probably going crazy with all these ants around, and he wanted to get you back with humans as soon as possible.”

Azlyn is silent for a second, her eyes heavily lidded as she thinks over the wizard’s words. It sort of bothers her that Telary would be so overprotective, but the thought of how much he must care about her to feel that way pushes all annoyance aside.

The offworlders rejoin the circus bugs at about the same time Atta approaches, smiling like she’s having the time of her life.

“I gotta say, this is unbelievable!” she exclaims happily, her wings actually buzzing giddily for a brief moment. “I mean, would you _just look_ at this colony!”

The princess gestures over to the dance floor, where old Cornelius has dropped his cane and is now vigorously performing one-handed pushups. All around him ants chant encouragement, and the queen unceremoniously drops Telary to the ground in her eagerness to catch a glimpse of the geezer.

“Oh, I feel seventy again!” Cornelius declares exuberantly.

“Yeah baby!” the queen encourages him. “Work that ab, woo!”

“It certainly has become more, uh, _interesting_ ,” Manny comments.

“But in a good way, of course!” Gypsy amends.

“Yeah, ve love it here!” Heimlich chimes in. “Especially ze food! Oh, zat grain dip is a sing of beauty!”

“Right?” Flik agrees.

“Anyway,” Atta continues, still smiling so hard it kind of makes Sora’s cheeks hurt by proxy. “The point I was gonna make is that it’s all thanks to you bugs! So, thank you!”

“You are most welcome, my dear,” Manny replies with a small bow, the other bugs following suit.

“And, uh, Flik,” the princess says, brushing her hand against the inventor’s back and leaning in close, “thank you for finding them.”

Flik turns to the princess, in the process tangling their antennas. “Oh, my goodness! I am so sorry about that princess!”

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Atta replies, wincing as her antenna tugs hard against her head. “I mean, it hurts, like _a lot_ , but… No problem.”

“Lemme just…” Flik says, fixated for a long moment on untangling the pair. Just as Sora is about to offer his assistance, the inventor manages to undo the mix-up. “There you go, good as new.”

“Well, I guess I have you to thank for that too,” Atta says dreamily. She and Flik stare into each other’s eyes for a long moment before she tears herself away. “Well, I had better go check on the bird. See you all later!”

The princess walks away, and Sora and the circus bugs watch Flik watch her go. Only Azlyn notices something amiss.

“Hey, Princess!” the knight calls out, drawing Atta’s attention. “The bird is actually the _other_ way.”

Atta’s eyes go wide. “Oh, uh, of course!” she says, shaking her head at the absurdity of the moment. “The bird is _this_ way, of course!”

“Ha!” Flik laughs along as she passes. At this point it’s been a whole minute since he took his eyes off of her. When he finally does draw his gaze away, it’s to see everyone glaring at him knowingly. “What?”

“You have it so bad,” Azlyn teases.

Sora scoffs and punches the knight in the shoulder. “Sure, like you’re one to talk.”

Whatever Azlyn has to say in reply is drowned out by the sudden loud bellow of the early warning shell. The entire party freezes after the first holler, listening for the second one, the one that means this isn’t just a surprise drill. After an agonizingly drawn out second, the shell sounds again.

For a brief moment there is panic all around, shocked cries rising up from the colony as they realize that the moment they have been preparing for is finally here.

“DO NOT PANIC!” Atta booms into a megaphone, rising above the crowd and speaking in her most commanding tone. “THIS IS WHAT WE TRAINED FOR PEOPLE, SO EVERYONE NEEDS TO STAY CALM, AND MOVE TO YOU DESIGNATED…”

The princess is interrupted suddenly, and quite violently, as two large centipedes scurry through the tall grass, coming out so close to Atta that she screams and dive to the side, just in time to avoid the large red box that the centipedes are hitched to.

As it comes into the clearing, the box is revealed to be some kind of red cart, large wheels squeakily trundling along the ground. A small figure sits atop the box, two shoelaces in his hands to serve as reigns for the centipedes.

The entire colony freaks out once again, losing all of their carefully practiced cohesion in a single terrifying instant of panic.

The cart stops, though its wheels still rock back and forth a bit from pent up inertia momentarily, allowing a good look at it. Upon further examination it is revealed to be some kind of red, blue, and yellow box, like something cookies would come packaged in. A flap in the back opens, allowing two fireflies to fly out and cast out spotlights in the air.

Sora hears a collective gasp go up from the circus bugs, all of whom immediately race to hide being the leaves

“Azlyn,” Sora whispers to his companion, who doesn’t move her head but just swivels one eye to him. “Go check on them. I wanna know what has them so freaked out.”

Sora runs off to find Telary, while Azlyn heads back to speak with the circus bugs.

“Oh, we’re _finished_!” Slim is moaning, head in his hands, when she comes around. “Game over, man, game over!”

“What is with you guys?” Azlyn demands, sparing a very quick glance at the still motionless cookie-box coach. “Who’s in that wagon?”

Francis takes a deep breath, then opens his mouth to spill the beans.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” a boisterous, rough voice calls from atop the cart. Azlyn turns completely away from the circus bugs, focusing entirely on the voice. From this distance, however, she can’t see who it is coming from.

Sora and Telary, meanwhile, stand with Flik right in front of the coach, looking up at the small brown flea standing atop it, his every gesture and movement declaring his penchant for showmanship.

“How do you do, folks?” PT asks with a grand smile, looking out over the assembled crowd. “My name is PT Flea, owner, operator, and ringmaster of PT Flea’s Flea Circus (All Rights Reserved). I have traveled from colony to colony, settlement to settlement, seeking my missing performers!”

“This is so not good,” Azlyn says decisively. Thinking quickly, she snatches one of the yellow leaves off its illuminating mushroom. “Okay everybody, get under here. We’re gonna have to sneak out before this gets…”

“Aaaah!” Rosie exclaims wordlessly, pointing back to the cart. Unrolled along it side is now a large poster for PT Flea’s Flea Circus. The poster features several portraits, all of them easily identifiable as the members of the circus.

“No time to lose, people!” Azlyn barks. “Double time it, _now_!”

“Say,” Cornelius says, approaching the poster with a thoughtful look, scratching at his chin. “Isn’t that Major Manny?”

“Staff Sergeant Slim!” Thorny points out.

“And there’s Miss Francis!” Daisy chimes in, pointing at the ladybug’s portrait.

“Are you kidding me?” Sora calls out, deliberately throwing his voice. “That looks nothing like the warriors. Any of them!”

“Uh, I’m afraid that there has been quite a mistake made here, sir,” Flik declares, rushing out of the pressing crowd and making a hasty attempt to roll the poster back up.

“What is going on here, Flik?” Atta demands sternly. “Why do the bugs on that poster look like…?”

“Ouch!” Francis’s rough voice cries out from somewhere behind the cart. “Watch that stinger, Azlyn!”

Thinking quickly, PT calls out to his fireflies, who both turn to direct their lights to the orange leaf inexpertly covering the circus bugs and Azlyn. PT leaps off the cart and makes his way over, throwing off the leaf to reveal the huddled bugs beneath.

“Uh, hi there PT!” Rosie greets the ringmaster awkwardly. “Long time, huh?”

“Oh, thank goodness I found you all!” PT yells triumphantly, smiling big at his performers. “I’ve been looking all over for you schmucks! ‘Flaming Death’ is a huge hit!”

By now the ants have made their way around the circus wagon, Atta and the council leading the way. Flik hangs back, hiding behind the cart with Sora and Telary.

“PT, please…” Slim tries to shush the ringmaster, but to no avail.

“So, here’s the new plan,” PT continues, barreling through all attempts to quiet him, “you guys set me on fire twice a night, I take a day off to recover, then we do it all over again! We’re gonna be the biggest, most successful circus in the country!”

“So, you’re not warriors?” Atta asks tentatively, her voice and whole body teetering on the edge of a breakdown.

“Well, y’see…” Francis begins, only to be interrupted by a boisterous guffaw from PT.

“Warriors?” the flea manages to get out through his chuckles. “Are you kidding me? These fools are the lousiest bunch of circus performers you’ll ever see!”

“You mean our entire defensive strategy,” rages Thorny, “was concocted by a bunch of _clowns_?”

“Actually, Manny does magic tricks,” Azlyn corrects weakly. “And I think Rosie and Dim are some kind of beast-taming thing.”

“How could you do this to us?” Dr. Flora laments.

“Hey now,” Francis declares defensively, “we really thought that Flik’s plan was gonna work!”

A gasp rises up from the colony, who all turn to direct looks of disappointment, shock, and sheer rage at the inventor. Sora and Telary look at each other with frowns. To add insult to injury, one enterprising firefly actually casts his spotlight over Flik.

“Oh, wow,” Francis mutters, his face falling along with the rest of the troupe. “That was _not_ the right thing to say, was it?”

Atta pushes back through the colony, anger more intense than the heat of the firefly spotlight directed straight at the inventor. “Tell me this isn’t true, Flik. Tell me you didn’t lie.”

“Wait, Atta,” Flik stammers, his whole body shaking with nerves and fear. “If you could just let me explain this to you…”

“Oh, this is the worst possible time for this to happen!” Mr. Soil frantically declares. “I feel faint again. Someone catch me!” Once again the dramatic teacher falls, and once again no one bothers to catch him.

“The last leaf is about to fall!” Dr. Flora laments. “And we haven’t barely collected a scrap of food for the grasshoppers!”

“If Hopper finds out what we almost did…” Thorny says with a dismayed shake of his head.

“Hopper is _not_ going to find out!” The colony parts to reveal the queen, stone-faced as she marches over to her daughter and the council. “We are simply going to act as if this never happened!”

“Are you kidding me?” Azlyn yells exasperatedly over the sounds of shock from the circus bugs. “You spend all this time…”

“You know, it’s funny,” the queen interrupts, looking around in faux bewilderment. “I thought I heard something, but obviously I didn’t, since a certain group of circus bugs was never here!”

“But, but you can’t scrap the bird!” Flik says, rushing over to the circus bugs. “The bird can work, you just have to give it a chance!”

“This colony, my boy, does not take advice from showoff liars,” the queen admonishes the inventor, “that have recklessly endangered it for their own personal glory.”

“What?” Flik exclaims. “How could you even think that…?”

“The point is that you lied Flik!” Atta interrupts, marching up to him, enraged. “To the queen, and to the colony, and even to _me_.” The princess shakes her head. “And like an idiot, I believed you.”

“He was just trying to do what was right!” Sora defends, stepping up beside Flik. “He only wanted to make a difference! Right Flik?”

Flik sighs, hanging his head. “I just thought that, if you knew I’d gotten circus bugs… I’m sorry.”

“I want you to leave, Flik,” Atta says simply, her voice low and full of hurt. “And this time, never come back.” She turns away. “Maybe you shouldn’t have the first time.”

The colony gasps, every ant shocked to their very core. Exile from the colony is unheard of, a punishment and fate so cruel that none present had ever even contemplated it before.

Flik says nothing in his defense, completely broken. Without even a glance up, he walks away. The circus bugs follow after him, all of them with their heads hung in shame. Only Azlyn remains behind.

“C’mon,” Telary encourages his counterpart, giving her a sad look. “We should go too.”

“What?” the knight complains. “We can’t just leave! We’ve never turned our back on…”

“It’s what they want, Azlyn,” Sora interrupts, shaking his head slowly. “And besides, Telary was right earlier. We still have to find a way to open the path. Maybe it’s time to admit that it isn’t here.”

“But…” Azlyn protests, unconsciously holding out a hand to where the Blueberry Scouts are gathered.

“We’ve gotta go,” Telary says, quiet but firm. He pulls down the knight’s arm, grabbing her hand in his. “C’mon.”

And so, with heavy hearts, the trio join Flik and the circus bugs in their walk of shame.

“Sheesh,” PT mutters to himself from behind the reins of his wagon. Truth be told, he’s still not sure what anyone here has been babbling about. “Tough crowd, huh?”


	25. The Ant and the Grasshopper

“ _Oh, I’m gonna make, a so much a’munny_!” PT Flea sings obnoxiously from his perch atop the cookie box circus cart. “ _So much’a dough, that it won’t be funny! Wherever I go, it’ll always be a sunny, ‘cause I’m gonna make, a so much a’munny!”_

The rest of the caravan is not so chipper, everyone still in a bad mood from the previous night’s terrible climax. Telary, Slim, Francis, Rosie, Heimlich, Manny, and Gypsy all ride in the cart, a small cube that doesn’t allow much leg room and only has two pencils and a thimble to provide seating. Flik is technically in the cart too, though he sits at the very back, his legs dangling off the side as he stares dolefully out into space. The ant hasn’t uttered a single word since being ejected from his home.

Azlyn and Sora walk behind the cart, beside Dim and the two pillbugs riding on his back. Sora seems neutral, but Azlyn’s scowl is pronounced and grim.

“If that dumb flea doesn’t stop his stupid singing,” the knight mutters to Sora, her hands clenched so tightly the chitin is nearly cracking, “I am gonna fly up there and give him such a sting, he’s gonna…”

“Oh, would you just relax?” Sora chides his partner. He immediately comes to regret it as Azlyn turns a truly terrifying glare upon him. The Keybearer actually stumbles a few steps. He’s seen some scary stuff, but for whatever reason it’s being subject to Azlyn’s vitriol that always messes him up the worst.

“ _Relax_?” she hisses, like the very word is burning her mouth. “How am I supposed to relax when my friends, my _girls_ , might be at the mercy of a bunch of nasty grasshoppers this very minute? Forced to work like slaves to gather more food than they can spare for survival. Does that sound like a situation in which one could relax?”

Sora loses his neutral manner, instead switching to sympathetic. “Okay, you’re right,” he admits, throwing up his hands and shaking his head weakly. “But we had to go Azlyn. You heard the queen.”

“Yeah,” the knight admits with only a slight scoff. “Still, we could’ve taken care of that Hopper jerk and his flunkies. They might as well have not even built that bird.”

Sora shakes his head. “No, we needed to let the colony and the circus bugs build the bird. You know the rule.”

Azlyn cocks her head at the boy, apparently not as familiar with whatever rule he means as he thinks she is.

“We aren’t supposed to meddle,” he says simply.

Azlyn actually starts laughing out loud, earning rather disturbed looks from Tuck and Roll. Sora rolls his eyes, but lets his companion carry her amusement to term.

“Sora,” she says, like he’s a total know-nothing air-head, “we threw that rule out a long, _long_ time ago. Remember what we said after Triton told us off in Atlantica last year?”

Sora nods enigmatically, then smirks at her. “I remember, but did we really throw it out completely, Azlyn?” When a full minute passes without her saying anything, he continues. “Just look back a little bit, to pretty much all of our adventures. We’ve fought a lot of bad guys on a lot of worlds, right?”

“Right.”

“Okay. Now, how many of those bad guys, not counting Heartless, would you say we directly finished off? Not our friends from other worlds, just you, me, or Telary.”

Azlyn closes her mouth and thinks, really thinks hard, for a long few minutes. After a while she turns back to Sora and says, “Well, _I_ handled Oogie Boogie in Christmas Town, but other than that you’re right, we mostly handle the Heartless or Nobodies. But what does that have to do with anything?”

Sora smiles. If this is what explaining things feels like, he can see why Telary does it so much. “Not very long ago, before this last week, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. I think it all started to come together for me when I fought those Heartless while you and Telary were busy with the bird. The real one, not the fakeout.

“In a way, that fight was a perfect, y’know, metaphor for what I think the Keybearer is supposed to do. I didn’t swoop in and save everyone from a threat that’s native to their world, I kept the out of this world element, the Heartless, from showing up and taking hearts.

“Now that I think about it, Telary didn’t hop in to help with the bird until Heartless showed up and started chasing after us,” Azlyn muses, beginning to get Sora’s point. “So that’s _two_ metaphors.”

“Exactly,” Sora agrees with a wide grin and a cheerful nod. “I thought about Mulan, and Quasimodo, and even Jack Sparrow. I never really solved their problems for them, I just helped them along and kept the Heartless from messing with them and their worlds. They all defeated their enemies on their own. So, sure, we could have said ‘screw building the bird, we’ll take care of Hopper’, but after we left the ants would just go right back to being afraid again, worried about who’s gonna come help them when the next trouble starts up. They’ve got to know that they’re strong enough to stand on their own.”

“Wow,” Azlyn says after a long moment, shaking her head amusedly before focusing on Sora. “That was a surprisingly mature, well thought out speech for a kid who just last week nearly peed his pants over the thought of meeting Santa Claus.”

Sora shrugs. “Hey, I’m a complicated man Azlyn. Get used to it.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, _complicated_. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I think about you.”

Back in the cart, Slim, Francis, Heimlich, and Telary approach the despondent Flik, weak smiles on all of their faces.

“Hey, Flik,” Francis greets the depressed inventor. “Look, I know things might not be ideal right now, but…”

“It von’t be so bad, being in ze circus,” Heimlich says comfortingly. “It’s not a terrible life, once you get used to it. You’re never bored, I find.”

“And, y’know, lots people actually run away to join the circus,” Telary points out. “So, I mean, it’s a life that’s so fun to live, people actually leave their old lives behind for it. So, in a way, you’re just a little bit ahead of the curve.”

“You can join our act!” Slim adds, gesturing to Francis and Heimlich. “You’d make a great clown, Flik!” The walkingstick frowns at his last statement. “That may not _sound_ like a compliment, but trust me, it is!”

Flik says nothing, his only response a loose shake of the head. The concerned clowns all let out dejected sighs.

“There’s gotta be a way to snap him outta this,” Francis says, fists clenched.

Just then, a high-pitched scream keens through the air behind the cart. The performers rush to the back of the cart to look out, and Sora and Azlyn turn towards the source of the sound. Even Flik looks interested.

Princess Dot breaks through the tall grass behind them, her little wings beating as fast as they can. Behind her buzz three Cockroach Heartless, flanking her and closing in.

Sora and Azlyn immediately leap into action. Sora cuts through the creatures with ease, and Azlyn guides Dot into the circus cart, which has not even stuttered since the scream.

“Hey, I’m excited too guys,” PT calls down to his minions, er, respected artists, without looking, “but would ya mind keeping it down back there? I gotta concentrate on the road, y’know.”

“Dot?” Flik asks the tiny princess once she’s settled. The inventor no longer seems depressed, just concerned for his young friend. “What are you doing here? Why are you flying?”

“Hopper!” Dot screams, still obviously out of breath. “Him and his gang showed up last night after you left, and they totally took over everything!”

“But you escaped?” Azlyn asks, her and Sora entering the already crowded cart.

Dot nods. “All the Blueberries did. We went to the den.”

“That’s my girls!” Francis exclaims cheerfully, Azlyn also sounding pleased. “I always told them, ‘you gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em’…”

“Please,” Azlyn scoffs combatively. “It was obviously _my_ superior martial arts training that gave them the resolve to fight on.”

“Oh, please. Like any of your bug-fu knockoff crap actually…”

“Cut it out you two!” Slim and Telary admonish their friends.

“They’re all still hiding there, but I knew I had to come and find you,” Dot continues. “I overhead a couple of the grasshoppers talking, and they said that once all the food’s gone, Hopper is gonna squish my mom!”

The performers, Flik, and the offworld trio all let out gasps of shock and horror.

“Did he send those Heartless after you?” Sora asks. “Did he bring more like them to the colony?”

Dot shakes her head. “No, they started chasing me just a few minutes ago. All of Hopper’s gang is grasshoppers.”

“We’ve got to help!” Rosie declares.

“The bird!” Slim says with a grin. Everyone makes noises of agreement. “We just need to get to the bird, and then we can…”

“The bird won’t work,” Flik interrupts, his voice firm and grim. Surprised, everyone turns to where the inventor is sitting on the pencil bench. “It’s hopeless.”

“What are you talking about, Flik?” Francis asks incredulously. “The bird was _your_ idea, man!”

Flik scoffs. “Why do you think I said it wouldn’t work?”

“Flik?” Dot asks, in complete disbelief that her hero could be laid so low. “What about everything you told me?”

Another scoff from the ex-inventor. “You should forget everything I ever told you Dot. You’ll be a lot better off. Trust me, that bird is a guaranteed failure. Just like me.”

It’s Manny’s turn to scoff, the praying mantis pushing through his comrades to stand directly in front of Flik. “That is nonsense talk, my boy. Speaking as someone who’s made a living out of being a failure, I can assure you that you are _not_ one!”

“Everybody makes mistakes, Flik,” Telary says gently. “But you can’t just give up!”

“You’ve done a lot of good things too!” Rosie points out encouragingly.

The ant looks up at the performers. “Oh yeah? Name _one_ thing I’ve done right.”

For a long moment, there is silence. In spite of their numerous reassurances, Flik does seem to have something of a point. Nothing immediately springs to anyone’s mind.

Just when things seem hopeless, Dim of all bugs chimes in with a single word. “Us.”

Slowly, everyone comes around to concur with the rhinoceros beetle.

“That’s right!” Rosie says with a broadening grin. “You brought us all together, kept us going when we were at our lowest.”

“You reignited the spark in our hearts, dear!” Gypsy says, snuggling a little close to her husband.

“You gave us all a purpose when we had none,” Manny agrees.

“If it weren’t for you, I might have never gotten over my fear of bugs,” Azlyn announces. Rosie smiles and gives the hornet a hug, but all she gets for her trouble is a terrified scream and a shove away. Seeing that everyone is looking at her, Azlyn shrugs. “Well, okay, so I’m not quite _there_ yet, but it’s better than it was before!”

Telary and Sora both chuckle and place hands on their companion’s shoulders.

“The point is, everyone in this cart is ready to follow you into the fight,” Sora says plainly, kneeling down to Flik’s level. “Just say the word.”

Flik looks at everyone for a second, then sighs and turns away. All the hopeful expressions fall off his friends’ faces, melancholy reigning once again. In spite of the encouragement, it seems that the ant’s spirit is well and truly broken.

Dot, however, refuses to give up on him. She quickly buzzes out of the cart and grabs something off the ground. Hovering back inside, she drops the object at Flik’s feet.

“Uh, that’s a rock,” Azlyn points out to Telary out of the corner of her mouth.

Flik turns back to see Dot, standing before him with her hands on her hips. “Pretend it’s a seed, okay?”

For whatever reason, this seems to work. Flik smiles and gathers the tiny princess up in his arms.

“Seriously, it’s just a rock,” Francis mutters to the other clowns. “What gives?”

“Must be an ant thing,” Slim posits.

“Probably it’s thematically important,” Telary muses.

“Alright everyone,” Flik says with confidence, putting Dot down and standing before his friends, the bugs willing to follow him into any situation, no matter the danger. “Let’s save ourselves a colony!”

Amidst all the happy cheering, Azlyn leans in towards Sora. “Sounds like there’s still no Heartless connection. Should we ‘let them help themselves’?”

Sora looks annoyed, but after a moment just shrugs. “Hey, the Heartless still _could_ show up. Best to be prepared, right?”

She smiles at him. “Right.”

“Okay then, Flik,” Rosie says, her and the rest of the performers looking to their leader. “What do we do first?”

“Well,” Flik says thoughtfully, “the first thing we need to do is turn this cart around.”

“Good luck convincing PT to go along with that,” Francis scoffs, crossing his arms doubtfully.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Flik says, something mischievous in his voice. “Besides, he’ll be a little too busy, heh, _wrapped up_ in something else.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Night has fallen over Ant Island once more, and things look plenty grim. After a full day of forced labor, every single scrap of food once on the island has been gathered and given to Hopper and his gang. Even elderly Cornelius has been forced into laboring, and the queen and Atta haven’t been allowed to leave the grasshopper’s side since he arrived.

“Hey, c’mon guys, be reasonable,” PT pleads to his firefly spotlights. The flea wriggles and squirms against his bonds, but Rosie’s webbing has hardened into a cocoon he cannot escape from. Only his head remains uncovered. “Look, I know I haven’t been the best boss in the past, but if you let me outta here, I’ll consider maybe starting to pay ya. What do ya say?”

The fireflies only shake their heads and close the back flap of the cart, leaving the showman to languish in darkness. Azlyn, who was supervising, snickers to herself before rising into the air and joining her compatriots at their vantage point.

Down below, the banquet table has been set up once more, though this time it is Hopper sitting at its head. A tall, four-armed grasshopper, his light brown chitin seems formidable. One either side of him sit Atta and the queen, and the rest of the table is occupied by other grasshoppers, most of them tan or light green in color.

It seems that only the royalty gets the privilege of seating, as the rest of the colony has been herded together in what can only be described as a pen, trapped between the slope of the anthill on one side and mean-looking grasshopper guards on all others. The council stands at the front of the procession, each member either looking angry or worried. Except Mr. Soil, that is, who just recently once again tried and failed in his “feeling faint, catch me” gambit. He just looks dazed.

“It looks like they’ve got all the food gathered up,” Telary reports, putting down his dewdrop telescope. “Whatever pageantry they’re going to put on before squishing the queen, I think it’s about to start.”

“Still no Heartless,” Sora mumbles, more to himself than the others. In a strange way, the lack of otherworldly, heart-devouring creatures of Darkness is putting the boy on edge.

“Well, then I guess it’s now or never,” Flik says, taking a deep breath and setting a determined look on his face. He, Dot, and Azlyn stand up, ready to head off on their own mission. “It’ll probably take us about fifteen minutes to get in position. Can you all handle stalling until then?” There are various affirmative mutterings from the troupe. “Good. Get the queen safe, we’ll be waiting for Gypsy’s signal.”

Flik and Dot head off, but before Azlyn can join them, Telary grabs her gently by the wrist. She turns to face her counterpart, who looks confident despite the small tremors in his body.

“Good luck,” the wizard says sincerely, looking into Azlyn’s eyes. “Make sure to be careful, okay?”

Azlyn lets out a little laugh, looking assured. “I will. But you too, alright. After all, you’re gonna be the one in the middle of all the action.” She takes a step closer, their eyes locked together. “Good luck.”

“Ahem, Azlyn!” Dot calls softly. A sheepish look comes over the admonished knight, and she gives Telary one last nod before rushing off with her group.

Telary watches her go until Sora puts a hand on his shoulder. Startled, the redhead turns to look at his younger companion.

“She’ll be okay,” he assures him. “Like she said, you and I have the really tough part.” The Keybearer looks away awkwardly. “I’ve never really done anything like this before. To tell the truth, I’m kind of scared.”

“Don’t worry Sora,” Telary tells the spiky-haired hero. “I can get pretty bad stage fright too.”

“If you’re all done with your cutesy little moment fellas,” Francis says, touching down on the circus cart’s roof, “it’s time to give Hopper and his cronies a show they’ll never forget.”

As the cart rounds the bend, the firefly pair blazing their spotlights into the night sky, Slim steps up to the front of the cart, grass megaphone held to his lips.

”LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LARVAE OF ALL STAGES,” the walkingstick booms, trying his best to emulate PT’s confident ringmaster style, “IT IS MY GREAT PLEASURE TO PRESENT TO YOU THE GREATEST SHOW IN THE WORLD! RUB YOUR LEGS TOGETHER FOR THE ONE, THE _ONLY_ , PT’S AMAZING FLEA CIRCUS!”

The grasshoppers watch in utter confusion as the cart makes its way across the field in front of the banquet table, a jaunty, jazzy tune playing off a prerecorded music box. They all even stop stuffing their faces to gawk.

The bully bugs aren’t the only shocked audience members either, though obviously the colony ants are confused for an entirely different reason. Princess Atta can suddenly scarcely feel her entire body, she’s so shocked. She tenses, hoping that Hopper doesn’t take notice.

The cart parades before the grasshoppers for a long minute, music still blaring out into the otherwise silent night. Finally, Francis tugs on the shoestring reins and signals the centipedes below to halt.

Hopper stands up, looking very, _very_ perturbed. “Wait just a minute!” he demands, the command so forceful that it startles Rosie, who stumbles back into the music box, knocking it off the cart and sending it to the rocky ground, where it smashes into several pieces, its music slowly morphing into a scarily deep mess of random noise before dying entirely.

“I sink I’m going to wet myself,” Heimlich squeaks out.

“Steady, Heim,” Sora assures his fleshy friend. “Just stay calm.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Hopper asks, his wings buzzing as he hovers over the banquet table to land in front of the troupe. His expression has not changed. He looks back at Atta. “Is this _your_ doing, Princess?”

Atta opens her mouth, but no words come out. She’s too scared to even speak.

“Why yes, in fact, it is!” Telary says quickly, hopping down from the cart and drawing Hopper’s focus off of the princess. “When she heard you were coming, she sent for us right away!”

“She wanted it to be a big surprise,” Sora adds, stepping up next to Telary. “So, uh, _surprise_!”

“Only the best for her honored guests!” Slim finishes with a smile.

Hopper’s angry look turns thoughtful, glancing around the cart as if he’s cataloguing everything he can see. His eyes linger briefly on the eyedropper cannon that currently contains Tuck and Roll, then give Gypsy’s wings a borderline lecherous glance.

“I see,” he says after a long, agonizing minute of silence. All in all, he seems to have come around. “Squish ‘em.”

At the word of their leader, every grasshopper at the banquet table takes to the air, their quickly vibrating wings filling the clearing with a disturbing, horrifying buzz. They approach, all of them grinning maliciously. Except one, that is, a rounder grasshopper who seems to be only halfheartedly enjoying the coming mayhem.

The circus bugs all back away, terrified. Only Sora reacts with any aggression, whipping out his hand and summoning the Keyblade. Unfortunately the boy is still too close to Telary, and the smooth silver shaft of his weapon collides with the wizard’s stomach.

“ _Oof_!” Telary moans, letting out a surprised gust of air. Startled, Sora turns to check on his friend, only to whack him once more on the chest. This hit has more force to it, and the cricket stumbles back.

The grasshoppers stop midair, entranced by the spectacle before them. Even Hopper looks marginally less murderous.

Dim is also watching events unfold between the offworlders, and in his distracted state he doesn’t look where he’s going, accidently setting off the cannon. Tuck and Roll, all rolled up in their spherical forms, ricochet off the side of the cart, flying through the air and knocking into Telary’s back. With another grunt, the wizard falls on his face.

Adding insult to injury, the pillbugs pop up and immediately go into their rehearsed dance, completely unaware of the fallen Telary. They prance around and sing for a few seconds, then end with a big flourish.

“You fired!” the pill bugs call out, arms stretched wide.

For a long moment there’s only more silence, every non-grasshopper in the area filled with anxiety and fear.

Hopper’s thoughtful look returns, though this time it doesn’t stay long, his mouth stretching into an amused smirk that still somehow seems cruel.

“Now that’s funny,” he declares, which the rest of his gang take as a cue to start laughing, doubling over. “All right, I guess we could use some entertainment!”

The rest of the gang cheers, taking their seats once again as Hopper returns to the head of the table.

“Hopper,” Atta says apologetically, her voice returned but trembling, “about not telling you, I…”

“Relax Princess,” Hopper says, patting her on her crowned head patronizingly. “You actually managed to do something correct for once.” He gestures to his right. “Look how happy you’ve made Molt.”

“The circus, the circus, I love the circus!” Hopper’s brother, the rotund grasshopper, sings happily, all four of his hands clapping delightedly.

Hopper glares over the queen. “That’s _enough_ , Molt!”

“Shutting up.”

Atta turns away from the brothers, still unsure as to what the purpose of all this is. And where could Flik be, surely he’s come back with the performers. Maybe he’s just hiding from the grasshopper’s sight, but that doesn’t explain why Azlyn is also…

Looking up, she finally realizes what’s going on. It takes everything she’s got just to hold in her shocked gasp, but she manages, not wanting to call any of Hopper’s attention to her.

Or to the procession of ants (and one hornet) crawling up the side of the tree, headed for the hollow at the top and the artificial bird contained within. Atta bites her lip, silently praying that Flik can succeed.

Meanwhile, Sora helps Telary back to the cart while Rosie, Dim, and the pillbugs set up for the first act.

“Sorry about all that,” the Keybearer apologizes, glancing at the wizard’s stomach.

“It’s alright,” he assures the younger bug, patting his shoulder. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go put all that studying I did about insect healing to work.”

The show goes on, Rosie taking the stage first to “battle” against Dim with a shoelace whip, Tuck and Roll riding atop the rhinoceros beetle and playing the role of damsels in distress. Hopper doesn’t seem too moved by the piece, until one of Rosie’s snaps goes wide, knocking Tuck from atop Dim’s back.

Slim comes in next, juggling five berries in his four arms while simultaneously telling jokes.

“So, how many roaches does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” he asks casually, as if he isn’t playing catch with himself.

“HOW MANY!” Molt yells out enthusiastically, earning another disgusted glare from his brother.

Atta takes advantage of the moment to check Flik’s progress. She looks up just in time to see the procession of Blueberries enter the hollow.

“Can’t tell!” Slim finishes, tossing all his berries into the air. “Light goes on, they scatter!”

“Boo!” Sora calls out over the grasshoppers’ laughter, emerging from behind the trailer with something obscured behind his back. “You stink!”

“Oh yeah?” Slim demands, mock indignantly. “Well, what are _you_ going to do about it?”

“This!” Sora thrust the object behind his back, a small prop pie made of grass and berries, into Slim’s face, knocking the walkingstick over and scattering berry juice and bits everywhere. The grasshoppers laugh twice as hard, and even Hopper allow himself a chuckle.

“Hey, zat’s not fair!” Heimlich says, arms crossed. Francis is hovering up to the caterpillar, a pie of his own held in one hand. “How come he gets pie?”

“Oh, _you_ want pie too?” Francis asks, over-the-top as always. He turns to the audience with a smile. “Well, should I give it to him?”

The chorus that emerges from the audience is too loud and jumbled to make out individual words, but it seems overwhelmingly affirmative.

“Okay,” Francis concedes with a shrug at Heimlich. “Here ya go!”

The audience nearly shed their carapaces from laughter. Telary looks at the grasshoppers before turning back to the tree. Everything seems to be in place. All that’s left now is the grand finale.

“Manny,” the wizard calls to the praying mantis, who is already all turbaned up and ready to go, “get the box out. It’s time for the showstopper.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn watches through a telescope from the tree hollow. Behind her, the Blueberry girls are loading themselves into the bird and getting a crash course from Flik in its operation.

All seems to be going well down there, and the knight tries to remain calm. But she can’t help how her heart flutters every time she sees Telary anywhere near one of those nasty grasshoppers.

The only thing more terrifying is that she knows what the feeling means. Even in the form of a bug, a disgusting creature that Azlyn would downright _relish_ squishing as a human, Telary can still stir up her feelings like no one else.

She’s in love with Telary, and she doesn’t think she can hide it any longer.

**KH-KH-KH**

“From the mystical, uncharted lands of the Far East,” Manny’s spiel begins as Dim and Sora push a Chinese takeout box to the center of the floor, “I give you, the Box of _Metamorphosis_!”

A collective “Oooh” of awe rises up from the grasshoppers, with the exception of Hopper. Personally, he liked it better when bugs were getting hit in the face.

“Now,” Telary addresses the crowd, stepping up beside the praying mantis, “using his all-powerful psychic senses of, um, selection, Manny the Magnificent will choose a volunteer from the audience. Your Magnificence?”

Manny puts on a big show selecting the volunteer, closing his eyes tight and placing one hand on his forehead. He holds the other out, as if pulling psychic vibes in from the crowd. As an actual wizard, Telary finds all the pageantry somewhat insulting, but he holds his tongue.

“Pick me, pick me!” Molt chants, pressing his upper hands hard against his temples. “I’m asking you with my _mind_!”

The oafish grasshopper (who to Telary has begun to come off as like a less-threatening Pete) feels hope swell in his heart as the magician approaches him, looking like he’s got a particularly strong feeling.

“Yes, I am sensing the one I require.” Manny stops and opens his eyes, and Molt keels over in happiness. “Your Majesty?”

The queen’s jaw drops, and she presses a hand against her thorax while saying, “Me, really?”

Her other hand reaches out to grasp Manny’s, and she looks to Hopper for permission to join in.

“Aw, what the Hell,” the grasshopper declares with a dismissive shrug. As the elderly ant follows Manny to the box, he leans over to his cronies. “Who knows, maybe he’ll saw her in half.”

The grasshoppers snicker, and Atta closes her hand into a fist beneath the table.

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn keeps a steady eye on the trick unfolding below, ticking off mental boxes at every step. The queen gets on Dim, who flies her into the box. Gypsy is waiting in the box, and Dim comes out before the lid closes.

Manny begins his over the top spell, chanting and waving his arms about. Azlyn can almost hear it from all the way up here, and knows that all the showboating must be driving Telary absolutely nuts.

Behind the cover of the takeout box, the queen sticks her head out from under Dim’s back carapace, only for Sora to wave her back in, urging caution. So far, so good.

It’s grand finale time, and Telary gives the box a quick spin for effect. The grasshoppers seem engaged enough, one of them leaning so far forward he threatens to pitch head-over-feet.

Manny gives one last flourish, and Gypsy bursts forth from the box, magnificently displaying the intricate patterns and colors of her wings. The grasshoppers burst into cheers, laughter, and applause as Gypsy lands and takes her husband’s hand for their bow. As she dips down, her wings flutter.

The signal has been sent up.

“Okay, Flik!” Azlyn calls, flying into the bird’s mouth and taking the copilot seat behind Flik. “Gypsy just gave us the green light.”

Flik nods resolutely. Sticking his head out, he calls to the boys below to unencumber the bird. A large, Y-shaped stick holds the facsimile in place, and further up a short trench two straight twigs keep a rock in place that’s heavy enough to knock the bird loose.

Azlyn hangs on to the sides of the cockpit, taking a deep breath to maintain calm. Internally, she wishes that Telary were the one about to take this contraption to wing. She’s always felt safe with him at the controls.

Suddenly it occurs to the knight that her anticipatory moment has gone on a little long. They should be moving by now.

“Flik, what’s wrong?” she whispers up to the pilot, who looks back at her concernedly.

“The rock got stuck,” he announces, terror making his voice go cold. “We can’t get out!”

“Well someone had better think of something!” Azlyn hisses at him, wishing she still had a view of events below. “We don’t have time for this.”

That statement is, unfortunately, much truer than she knows.

**KH-KH-KH**

Manny and Gypsy soak up the applause from their eager audience, taking a few more bows that, incidentally, give Gypsy another chance to flash the signal.

Slim and Sora pull the box to the side, both tensing themselves for the bird’s arrival. Telary stands by Dim, just in case things go wrong and he must protect the queen.

Hopper watches it all without so much as a twitch, his eyes cold and calculating. Atta makes the unfortunate choice of glancing once in his direction, and suddenly she knows that whatever plan Flik has cooked up (for who else could architect such a scheme?) is in serious jeopardy.

“Wait a minute!” the gang leader growls, banging a fist on the table. Everything stops as if some universal pause button has been pressed. The circus bugs and colony ants brace for the worst. “Where is she?”

“Why, uh, she’s right here!” Sora declares, waving a hand at Gypsy. “Didn’t you hear how many times Manny the Magnificent said the word ‘transformation’? I thought you were the brains of this outfit?”

Back by Dim, Telary groans quietly. “C’mon, Sora, don’t antagonize the bug who can order us all squished.”

Hopper buzzes over the table, his gang tensing in anticipation of an attack order. “Tell me where she is _now_!”

“A magician never reveals his secrets!” Gypsy states definitively, grasping her husband’s upper arm.

“I’m not going to ask again,” Hopper declares coldly, stalking forward with his gang hovering behind him. “Where. Is. The _queen_!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn scrambles out of her seat quickly, reaching back to grasp her shield. It seems that she is going to have to forgo her ride.

Beating her wings in a steady buzz, the knight flies out of the bird’s mouth, past the bewildered Flik. Alighting in front of the Y-shaped stick, she pulls her arm back and hurls her trusty disk.

The metal shield proves more than forceful enough to knock the wooden twig down, and the bird lands flat on its belly with a loud thump. Azlyn quickly ducks out of the way, watching as it slides out of the hollow and into the air.

The knight hangs back to watch as the bird descends on the unsuspecting enemies below. A loud screech echoes through the air, courtesy of Dot and their shell-amplification trick.

Smiling, Azlyn begins her own descent into the chaos below, fervently hoping she’ll get to catch some of the terrified looks on the grasshoppers’ faces.

**KH-KH-KH**

It only takes the first cry from the artificial bird’s mouth for Telary to know that Flik’s plan can work. Hopper, who had just been about to wrap his hands around Sora’s neck, looks up in abject horror at the sound. His eyes widen, and a cry of his own escapes.

The bird buzzes the air above Hopper before swinging back up into the night sky, the long cable keeping it aloft nearly invisible in the darkness. In a glorious display that no one could have planned so perfectly, it silhouettes itself against the moon before diving back down.

“A bird, a bird!” Hopper cries, running about with his hands waving above his head comically. He runs into Molt, ducking behind his brother like a shield. “Don’t let it get me! _Don’t let it get me_!”

With their boss’s usual cool, in-control demeanor in shambles, the rest of the grasshopper gang have little hope of maintaining any bravado of their own.

Adding to the terror and confusion is the colony, hundreds of ants suddenly surging forward, out of their pen and into the clearing. The performers pick up the hint too, scattering and screaming bloody murder. Even Atta vaults over the banquet table, letting out a whoop of triumph.

Knowing good drama when they see it, the circus fireflies send up their light, sweeping through the sky like spotlights.

The bird makes another low pass, Dot screeching out a warning cry. Deciding that there’s still room for a little extra helping of spectacle, Slim passes a berry to Telary.

Hopper is going crazy, keeping low to the ground and literally crawling away from the repeated passes of the predator above. As it swoops up again, Hopper rises to his feet and takes off sprinting, only to run smack dab into another horror.

“Help me!” Slim cries, clutching a hand to his face. Red fluid leaks out between the walkingstick’s fingers. Letting out another pitiful moan, he pulls his hand away. “You’ve got to help me, my eye!”

Hopper gasps at the sight of a bloody mess where Slim’s eye once was. Screaming once more, the grasshopper turns tail and flees.

But there is no escape from this horror, Sora and a few ants crawling along the ground in front of Hopper with red staining their bodies. Disemboweled, no doubt, they cry uselessly into the night. Upon seeing them, Hopper lets loose a scream of his own.

Peeking out from beneath Dim’s carapace, the queen laughs at the sight of her people’s longtime bully being brought so low.

Azlyn touches down next to Telary, who has just frightened off a few more grasshoppers with a feigned arm loss.

“Things are going well,” she observes, her casualness standing out amidst the surrounding chaos. “We’ll have ‘em on the run in no time.” Telary grimaces at her. “What?”

“You just had to say that, didn’t you?” The wizard sighs, bracing for the inevitable fly in the ointment.

In truth, that fly is in fact a flea, with lighter fluid playing the role of ointment.

On one pass Flik, enjoying the sight of the grasshoppers on the run a bit _too_ much, forgets to pull up in time, and the bird slams into PT’s circus cart, busting the cardboard box wide open.

PT, coming quickly unwrapped from Rosie’s web cocoon, lands on the rocky ground with a thud, various props and circus matériel dropping around him.

“Aaah, a bird!” the showman cries, bouncing to his feet and observing the attacking avian making pass after pass. Following its flight, PT stumbles upon a sight that settles an ice cold fear in his belly.

“Oh, this is the end!” Manny moans to a grasshopper. His torso is splattered with blood, and even more of it leaks from a head wound. “Woe is me, oh, _woe_ is _me_!”

“Manny!” PT feels numb, so utterly devastated by the loss confronting him. How is he supposed to find another magic act before the rainy season starts?

Looking around, PT finds only more horror surrounding him. Rosie’s thorax has been cut open, Slim is effectively blind, and Heimlich’s head is just plain _gone_!

“I’m bleeding munny here!” PT laments. “Literally!” Looking around for something, _anything_ , that can stop this massacre before he has to find and hire, not to mention negotiate the contracts of, a completely new set of incompetent idiots, the ringmaster’s eyes settle on two containers that hold just what he needs.

Flaming Death, one night only.

Sora and Francis have just finished playing dead for a trio of traumatized grasshoppers when they spot PT grab a match and bounce over to a large tube.

The ladybug lets out a gasp, activating his wings and charging forward. Sora takes the hint and sprints alongside him.

“What’s going on?” the Keybearer asks as he and the clown make their way to the cackling flea.

“ _Flaming Death_!” PT inadvertently answers, his eyes fixed on the bird as it dives down towards him. With a mighty leap, he lands atop the lighter fluid tube, releasing a thick, steady torrent that reeks of gasoline. A flick of his wrist lights the match in his hands, sticking the flame into the stream of accelerant and setting it ablaze.

Despite Flik’s best efforts, the bird slams right into the blaze, the dry, dry leaves of its tail catching on fire. The flames beginning to spread immediately. In the light of the inferno, the contraption’s guiding strand is clearly illuminated.

Hopper stops and watches the now-obviously fake bird careen through the air, the fire still spreading along its body. Realizing that he’s been played, the grasshopper scowls darkly.

Azlyn and Telary watch in horror. The knight activates her wings, only for Telary to firmly grasp her wrist in both hands, holding her back.

“Telary, let me go!” she demands tugging away to no avail. “My girls are all in there, I have to help!”

“No!” Telary declares, giving one last firm tug on his counterpart that sets her feet back on the ground. The look in his eyes is pure sadness. “It’s too dangerous. You can’t risk it.”

“But Flik…”

Screams from the colony interrupt Azlyn’s protest, and the Disney Castle pair turn just in time to see the bird, now disconnecting from its guide, fall through the air and impact against the anthill, sending pebbles flying up in the air. She finally manages to break Telary’s grip as it goes slack in terror.

The entire colony converges at a safe distance from the burning bird, but Atta rushes further in, ready to greet the Blueberries as the emerge, coughing and choking on the smoke.

“Where’s Dot?” the princess asks as she looks over the girls, panic and fear shaking her voice like a leaf in the wind.

A scream pierces the air, and Atta turns to see that Hopper has her little sister by the head, lifting the terrified young ant high into the air.

Azlyn touches down and hurls her shield, but all it takes is a negligent flick from Hopper to send it away. She grunts frustratedly and charges forward, but Atta stops her.

Hopper stands before the assembled colony, his hostage held high for all to see. He looks even more terrifying than before, the flickering firelight reflecting in his eyes. Even Sora has to pause, the Keyblade remaining unsummoned.

“Whose idea was this?” Hopper demands, his usually smooth voice roughened with rage. He casts his glare about the colony, staring them all down with a fierce snarl. Finally, he rests his gaze on Atta. “Was it _yours_ , Princess?”

As the grasshopper stalks forward, Azlyn herds the Blueberries behind her. “Just stay behind me girls, everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Leave them alone!”

Hopper whirls around just in time to see Flik emerge from the bird’s mouth. The inventor takes a step forward, hard and determined.

“Just leave them alone,” he repeats, suddenly not sounding so brave. “It was my idea, I’m the one you want.”

Every instinct in Sora is telling him to charge, summon the Keyblade and save the day. But intellectually, he knows he can’t. This is Flik’s moment, and he has no right to meddle.

“Aren’t you the same ant who stood up to me the last time I came for my food?” Hopper asks almost conversationally, striding towards the defiant ant. He drops Dot on his way, and the young princess rushes immediately to her sister. “You are, aren’t you?”

Tutting, the grasshopper shakes his head like Flik is a child that refuses to learn his lesson. Stopping his casual stroll, he reaches out and slaps Flik across the face.

The colony and performers all let out a gasp as the ant flies through the air, landing in a heap.

Sora can’t fight his instincts anymore, and charges forward. He barely breaks the ring of the colony before two grasshoppers block his way.

“You little piece of _dirt_ ,” Hopper growls at the fallen Flik. “No, wait, you’re worse than dirt, lower than that. You’re an _ant_!” He lets loose another kick, sending Flik rolling across the ground.

Sora charges one grasshopper, but the other takes advantage of his distraction. The Keybearer suddenly feels a chitinous fist against his head, and he falls to his knees, disoriented.

Telary marches forward, but Manny and Slim grab him before he can break the circle. Azlyn winces as Sora goes down, but refuses to leave Atta and the Blueberries undefended.

“Let this be a lesson to all of you ants!” Hopper declares, turning back to the colony. “You are _nothing_! You live worthless lives, mindlessly shoving soil because it’s all you know how to do. Your only purpose is to serve us. That is why you exist!”

“You’re wrong.” Flik struggles to his feet, wincing at every movement but pushing on in spite of it all.

Hopper whirls on him, eyes blazing. Telary gasps as he realizes that it isn’t simply the fire’s reflection that is responsible. It’s something much darker.

“Ants aren’t weaker than grasshoppers,” Flik continues, defiant in the face of danger. Of Darkness. “I’ve seen this colony do great things.” He gesture to the still smoldering bird. “They built that, and it was good enough to fool you! Good enough to _scare_ you. Year after year, we not only collect enough food for ourselves, but for _your_ gang too! So tell me Hopper, who needs who in this equation, huh?”

All around, the colony begins to realize the truth of Flik’s words. Without them, the grasshoppers would most likely starve, too lazy to gather their own sustenance. The cycle relies on the ants, not the grasshoppers!

Hopper looks around, realizing that his hold on the situation is slipping. Inside, his Darkness only grows.

“We ants are a lot stronger than you’ve made us think we are,” Flik says defiantly. “And you know that, don’t you Hopper?”

Almost out of options, Hopper knocks Flik down again, then raises his foot into the air above the ant’s cranium. He’s going to shut that loud mouth permanently, even if he has to take out the rest of the head to do it!

Before he gets the chance, Princess Atta, no longer nervous or unsure, finally confident in her abilities as a leader, steps in front of him, shielding Flik with her body.

“Well, hello Princess,” Hopper greets the winged ant condescendingly. “It’s nice of you to want to help out your boyfriend, but…”

“Um, Hopper,” Molt suddenly interrupts, his voice shaking. “I hate to interrupt, but I think you’re gonna want to see this.”

The gang leader whirls around to face the sea of ants, all of them scowling at the bug who has bullied them for years, and whose kind has been doing the same even longer than any of them can remember.

It’s payback time.

“Here’s the thing, Hopper,” Atta says, zipping up to the grasshopper’s face. “Nature has a certain order. The ants _pick_ the food, the ants _keep_ the food… And the grasshoppers _leave_.”

The colony and circus bugs charge forward as one, a massive mob of blue attacking like a wave breaking against the shore.

Sora rise and summons the Keyblade, then spins around to knock down the pair of grasshoppers that had been looming over him. They cry out in alarm and retreat to the skies.

“This was _such_ a bad idea,” Molt informs the remaining grasshoppers, a bit too late. “I told ya we should’ve just stayed back at the sombrero, but did anybody listen to me? No, no they did not!”

As soon as the last word has left Molt’s mouth, the mob is on him. The cowardly bug screams like a child, running away so fast he leaves his shed skin behind.

“No, come back!” Hopper calls to his fleeing minions. “You can’t be scared of them, they’re just _ants_! I said get back here, you…”

The rest of Hopper’s words are quickly crushed beneath a massive flood of “just ants”.

Sora rushes up to Atta, helping her pick Flik up off the ground.

“I am so proud of you!” the princess congratulates the inventor, yelling over the activity all around.

“Me too, Flik!” Sora agrees, thumping his friend on the back. Unfortunately said friend is still rather sore from his beating. “Oh, uh, sorry.”

“C’mon guys!” Azlyn calls out. She hovers in the air while below a crowd of ants hold the struggling Hopper above their heads. They’re carrying him over to the eyedropper cannon, all set up to launch the gang leader away. Permanently.

As Hopper gets stuffed in the cannon, struggling and screaming all the while, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary regroup.

“It’s just like I told ya, Azlyn,” Sora says to the knight. “People need to find their own courage. All we can do is give them a little push.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” Turning to Telary, she notices that her counterpart is silent, his face twisted contemplatively. She still thinks it’s cute, though. “What is it Tel?”

The wizard looks a bit startled at the interruption of his thoughts. “Oh, it’s nothing,” he replies with a shrug. Hopper’s in the cannon now, and Flik seems to be giving him some parting words. “It’s just that, well, Hopper got pretty mad there near the end, and I saw something with his eyes that…”

“Made you nervous?” Sora finishes, already summoning the Keyblade. “Come on guys, let’s get up there. I think the colony is about to need some interference.”

Beaten, humiliated, and about to be launched into oblivion, Hopper has finally had enough. All he wants to do is crush these stupid, rebellious little weaklings like the insects they are. It consumes him, the desire for it burning cold in his heart.

Sora pushes through another clump of ants, noting that Hopper’s eyes have completed their transition to Heartless yellow. The colony notices that something seems amiss as well, their newfound confidence suddenly faltering.

The offworld trio just barely reach the cannon in time for Hopper to unleash a blast of crackling purple and black energy from his body. The nearest ants cry out and rush back several steps as the eyedropper cannon explodes into scrap.

Momentarily stunned by the Darkness, Sora finds himself too late to stop the inevitable escalation. Hopper’s Heartless, nothing more than a nigh-mindless mass of Darkness, vengeance, and anger, bursts through the air to grab Flik. The inventor lets out a helpless cry as the pair take off into the sky.

“Flik!” Atta yells, taking off right after the creature formerly known as Hopper, hot on its tail.

Azlyn rises as well, grabbing Sora under his arms and lifting him into the air.

“What about me?” Telary asks, miffed in spite of the dire situation around him.

“I can only carry one,” Azlyn explains. “Keep an eye out, more Heartless might show up!”

“C’mon, Azlyn, we’re losing them!” Sora calls up to his ride.

With a last meaningful glance at her old friend, Azlyn takes to the skies in pursuit of one of her new ones.

Azlyn pushes it hard, and in no time the pair are matched with Atta, Flik and the Heartless carrying him only a few inches ahead. By then they’ve left Ant Island, the chase now hovering over the cracked dry riverbed.

“Pull up a little, Azlyn!” Sora commands, Keyblade in hand. “I need a good shot, or this won’t work.”

Azlyn complies, and Sora wriggles his right arm free, rearing it back in preparation for his throw. Azlyn jukes to the left, aligning him a little better, and he lets loose.

The mystical key spins end over end as it charges through the open air towards Hopper’s Heartless, naturally seeking out its great enemy. Moving so fast it looks like a solid silver disc, the blade hits home, scoring a direct hit where Hopper’s wings meet his body.

A great cloud of loose Darkness kicks up, and the Heartless falters, dropping its cargo and falling like a meteor towards the edge of the riverbed.

Atta quickly gets under Flik, grabbing him around the waist to save him from plummeting as well. Azlyn and Sora only get a quick glance at them as they follow the fallen Heartless, intent on finishing it off once and for all.

“Follow them!” Flik calls to Atta. The princess momentarily hesitates, then nods and begins her descent.

Azlyn drops Sora to the ground while still a few inches up, and he drops and rolls twice before settling into a standing position, the Keyblade appearing in his hand.

Hopper’s Heartless stands inches away, in front of some kind of woven twig structure that is impossible to identify in the dark of the night. The former grasshopper’s tan chitin has turned pitch black, and tiny spots of Darkness hover around it. Once again Sora is reminded of the hunter Clayton, the first man he’d seen give into the Darkness of the Heartless. This, however, actually seems a worse example.

They stand off against one another until Azlyn sets down on Sora’s right. On his left, Atta and Flik take positions.

“Flik!” Sora exclaims, looking to the inventor with horror in his eyes. “What are you doing here? That Heartless is gonna…”

“Squish,” the Heartless chokes out, eyes blazing yellow as they focus on Flik and Atta. “Squish. You!”

Sora and Azlyn brace for battle, wondering what terrible form the creature’s attacks will take…

They don’t get to find out, as it happens, because right as Hopper’s Heartless prepares its charge, the finch that had terrorized the circus bugs only days ago lands in its nest, lets out a curious tweet, and scoops the creature formerly known as Hopper into its mouth.

“Uh…” Sora can’t even begin to find the words, only wincing as the flesh-and-blood bird swallows the Heartless without even bothering to chew. “Well, okay then.”

“I don’t get it,” Flik declares, turning to the offworlders. “What happened to Hopper? Why did he transform like he did? What was that strange energy blast he used to escape the cannon?”

Sora chuckles good-naturedly. “Tell you what, Flik, I’ll explain everything once we’re back at the colony.” He turns away. “Let’s go.”

“Uh, Sora,” Azlyn nudges the Keybearer. “I think you might want to hold off on that for just a quick minute.”

“What?” Turning around, Sora suddenly grasps the knight’s concern all too well.

The bird that ate Hopper lets out a screech of pain, throwing its head back as black tendrils cover it from head to toe. The shadows reach out to engulf it, squeezing the finch like an encroaching net. With a last throe of pain, the entire upper half of the bird explodes into black Darkness, the rest of the body disappearing in violet light.

A Heartless steps out of the remains of the avian, and one Sora knows well. The pitch black monstrosity looms over the ants and Azlyn, staring down at the quartet with yellow eyes. Thick tendrils like unruly hair covers its face, and a heart-shaped chunk is missing from its torso.

The Darkside flexes its claws. Sora and Azlyn drop into fighting stances, while the colony ants just step back, unsure of what else to do. Still gazing down at them impassively, the Heartless raises a massive arm.

It unexpectedly throws its arm back, sweeping away the bird’s nest. Something shines from the ground underneath, casting light into the air in a shape that is all too familiar to Sora and Azlyn.

“A Keyhole?” the Keybearer mutters to himself.

The Darkside turns and once again lifts its arm, this time intending to plunge it into the Keyhole, and thus the world’s heart. Realizing what is about to happen, Sora charges forward, hoping he can get to the Keyhole in time to stop what is about to happen…

He needn’t worry, as suddenly Gypsy dives in front of the massive Heartless’s eyes, deploying her dizzying wing patterns once again. For a brief, important moment, the Darkside is distracted.

The distraction continues as Francis flies in, Slim held in his hands like a struggle bat. With a loud grunt of exertion, the ladybug slams his fellow clown into the creature’s noggin before quickly rising out of its reach.

That alone would probably not be enough it wasn’t for Telary, riding atop Dim’s back and casting fire spells as quickly as he can.

Darkside backs up a step, and Sora rushes forward to slam the Keyblade into its shadowy leg.

It turns to sweep the boy away, but a blizzard spell coats the tendrils covering its face, once again delaying a fatal attack.

Azlyn picks up Sora once again, guiding him up to the Heartless’s face. With a mighty grunt of effort, the Keybearer slams into the creature’s countenance full force. That seems to be all it takes, and the Darkside that once was Hopper explodes out of existence, leaving behind only a quickly fading crystalline heart to show for itself.

Azlyn and Sora now hover above the Keyhole, set into the ground that was once below the finch’s nest. Without any prompting from its wielder, the Keyblade gathers light at its tip, coalescing into a beam that plunges into it.

There’s a loud _click_ , and then the path to A Bug’s World’s heart fades, sealed forever.

Everyone regroups on the ground near the Keyhole once shown, all of them plenty confused.

“Well, I’m really glad we could help you guys out,” Francis says. “But what was that all about?”

“Y’know,” Sora replies with a frown, “I really don’t know.”

**KH-KH-KH**

The next morning, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary prepare to take their leave. They have some questions they need answered, and those answers won’t be found here, gate or no gate.

“Thank you for everything you did for the colony,” Atta tells Sora formally. Flik stands beside her, grinning at the Keybearer. “In some cases I’m not actually sure _what_ it is you did, but thank you all the same.”

Sora smiles right back at the princess and the inventor. “Well, thank you for being so welcoming towards us.”

Azlyn is standing a ways away, surrounded by crying Blueberries. She looks down at the ant children knowing that her skin should be crawling, but only feeling the sadness that comes from leaving good friends.

“Now, don’t let all your combat skills go to waste,” the knight manages to instruct through tears of her own. “Just because those grasshoppers are gone doesn’t mean this place won’t need protecting again. It’ll be all up to you then.”

“We promise!” the scouts chorus, each of them giving their denmother a salute.

Francis approaches Azlyn and gives her a friendly pat on the back. “Me and the rest of the clowns are staying, and I’ll keep denmothering, but it just won’t be the same without ya, Az.”

“No,” Azlyn agrees. “It probably won’t.”

Francis herds the kids away, and Telary approaches his counterpart. “I know I already said it, but you make a surprisingly great mother.”

She turns to look at him, a smile on her face. As they hold the gaze, her expression turns serious.

“I think we have something we need to talk about,” she says after a moment of courage-gathering.

“What?” the wizard asks with a concerned look.

Azlyn shakes her head. “No, not while we’re still all buggy.” She gives him a half-grin. “This is definitely a conversation I want to be human for.”

“Uh, okay,” Telary replies, confused but also nervous for some reason. It feels like his heart is beating at twice its normal speed.

Shoving their weirdness aside for a moment, the Disney Castle pair rejoin Sora, Flik, and Atta.

“Well, Flik,” Sora says to the inventor, one hand on his shoulder, “thanks for getting us all mixed up in this.” He smirks. “You really messed up, my friend.”

At that moment, a familiar sensation washes over Sora. Looking up, he sees that Atta’s crown has risen from her head, hovering in the air with a halo of light surrounding it.

Sora’s Keyblade opens the path, and it’s finally really time to move on.


	26. To Injure A Heart

“Well, it’s certainly about time!” Jiminy says upon the trio’s arrival in the Gummi ship’s lounge. “That’s the longest you’ve ever…”

The chronicler is cut off by Azlyn, who scoops him up in her hands for a hug. “Oh, Jiminy,” the knight declares sweetly, rocking him back and forth gently before pulling away and looking into his eyes. “I’m terribly sorry if I’ve ever displayed any anti-bug prejudice against you. I just never knew how hard it was to be, well, someone like you.”

The cricket just stares up at the girl for a long moment, his mouth agape. With his hat fallen to the floor, his eyes look even wider and more confused than usual.

“Uh, it’s okay,” he says finally. “I mean, there was the time you kidnapped me in a sack full of _very_ hard munny coins, but I always figured that was for expedience, not prejudice.”

“I’ll explain everything later, Jiminy,” Sora declares as Azlyn returns the chronicler to the table.

“I certainly hope it’s a _good_ explanation,” he replies with a bit of a huff.

“For now, I think it’s important that we focus on the Keyholes,” Sora continues. “I think the best thing to do would be to go see Yen Sid and ask if anything has changed. It might be a good idea to go back and seal the Keyholes of the worlds we haven’t yet. Otherwise the Heartless could start gathering their strength again.” He frowns, recalling his terrifying last minutes on Destiny Islands. “I never want to lose another world again.”

“I’ll have to check and see if Yen Sid’s tower is in the navigational computer,” Telary says, leaning against the cockpit ladder. “If it’s not, with Twilight Town seemingly gone I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Well let’s get going!” Sora encourages, leaping up the ladder. “I don’t want anything hanging around unresolved when I go back home to Kairi.”

“I’ll be up in a second!” Telary calls to the Keybearer before turning to Azlyn. “Sorry, it looks like this can’t wait. We can still talk later, if you want.”

Azlyn purses her lips nervously, then nods. “Yeah, sure thing. We’ll talk when it’s convenient for us. Then we can talk. Privately. About the thing I want to talk to you about.”

For a long moment Telary’s face is scrunched in puzzlement. “Uh, sure thing Az. Whenever we get a free minute.”

“I’m holding you to that!” Azlyn calls up at her counterpart as he ascends the ladder. When he’s gone, she rolls her eyes and falls back into the nearest chair.

Jiminy moves a little closer. “So, what’s on your mind to discuss with Telary? You can tell me anything, you know, I’m a conscience! I made a vow to never steer anyone wrong.”

Azlyn says nothing, contemplating whether or not this is something she wants to share. Finally, she just decides to lay all her cards on the table.

“Okay Jiminy,” she begins, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “So, here’s what’s up with me and Telary…”

“Telary and I,” Jiminy corrects reflexively. When the comment earns him a glare, he just blushes and shrugs. “Sorry. It’s just that it’s never a bad time for a grammar lesson.”

On the deck above, Telary quickly scrolls through the recorded data in the navigational computer. The Warp coordinates for every world that they visited roll by in quick succession, and the wizard can’t help but feel a pang of nostalgia for the friends that await there.

As he reaches the bottom, he notices something. He remembers now that he _had_ input the coordinates of the tower when they left, and though he can’t remember the exact numbers, he knows they aren’t what is currently displayed as the first recorded coordinate. Not by a long shot.

Intrigued, he clicks the numbers to plot a course there. The 3D display chart whirs into action for a quick second, then suddenly solidifies. A bright yellow dot representing a world sits in the center of the screen, a small tag identifying it as Twilight Town.

“Well, that’s certainly interesting,” he mutters to himself.

“What?” Sora asks, impatiently sticking his face over Telary’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s Twilight Town! I thought you said that was gone?”

“I did!” Telary declares defensively. “But I think I was wrong. You see, the world we lifted off from, where Yen Sid’s tower was, wasn’t actually Twilight Town.”

Sora frowns, not at all comfortable with technical jargon. “Huh?”

“Remember when I said that there was no marker indicating Twilight Town was on the map?” the wizard asks, only continuing once Sora nods. “Well, the place I was looking for Twilight Town was actually where Yen Sid’s tower, which appears now to be a separate world from Twilight Town, was located. I only assumed Twilight Town was gone because I wasn’t really looking where it was. Not even close, in fact. I think that train actually crossed world boundaries. And no, don’t ask me how, because I really don’t know.”

“That’s interesting,” Sora says, leaning back in his seat. “Especially since it means that the world that actually mysteriously vanished was where Yen Sid’s tower was.”

“Oh, yeah,” Telary says quietly, having not actually thought about that. On one hand he’s proud of Sora’s observational skills, on the other he’s a bit worried _Sora_ came up with that information before he did.

“But I think we should head for Twilight Town anyway,” Sora suggests, his thoughts turning to Hayner, Pence, and Olette suddenly.

“Because that’s where we got on the Ghost Train that took us to Yen Sid?” Telary says.

“Uh, sure.” Truth be told, Sora hadn’t been thinking about that in the slightest. “And maybe we’ll drop in on Hayner, Pence, and Olette!”

It takes a second for Telary to remember who those people are. In his defense, they’d met fairly briefly a long time ago.

“I’m sure we can find some time to do that,” Telary says placatingly, inputting Twilight Town’s honest to goodness navigational coordinates and queing up Warp functions. “It’s been awhile since we last Warped, y’know. Everybody hang on!”

**KH-KH-KH**

The trio pop into existence in a small alcove in Twilight Town’s downtown shopping area, the tram commons. Coming out, they see the familiar yellow and orange buildings all around, and several hut like shops dot the main concourse. Above, the sky maintains its signature pink-orange-yellow hue.

“All I’m saying is that it’s a pretty simple thing to warn a girl before you start breaking light speed,” Azlyn grumbles, still miffed about being thrown across the Gummi ship’s middle deck. “All it takes is a simple yell.”

“I apologize once again, Azlyn,” Telary says regretfully. “You are okay, right?”

The knight rolls her eyes, though the motion is more affectionate than annoyed. “Yeah, I’ll live.”

“I know that we’re supposed to be all gung ho about getting to the Ghost Train,” Sora suddenly announces, “but I really want to go see Hayner, Pence, and Olette first.”

“Then you can go alone,” Azlyn says abruptly, an idea appearing in her head. She reaches out and grabs Telary’s arm. “Me and… Telary and I need to have that talk.”

“Sure thing,” Telary assures his counterpart. “And hey, could we maybe stop for lunch? Grain and berries apparently go a lot longer way when you’re only centimeters tall.”

“Of course we can,” Azlyn cheerily acquiesces. “I’ll even pay.”

Telary looks at her as if a second head has suddenly sprouted from her shoulder, and Sora’s jaw drops open.

“What?”

“In all the time we’ve spent together, I’ve never heard you offer to pay for _anything_ ,” Sora explains, looking a little like the world’s axis has shifted.

Azlyn narrows her eyes menacingly at the Keybearer. “Why don’t you just run along and go talk to your little friends, huh?”

Sora looks to be about to do just that when suddenly a loud cry echoes across the commons. All of them trained to seek out trouble, the trio swivel their heads to see a small boy running up the street, dressed in green pants, a blue jacket and shirt, and a large yellow hat with a zipper that runs across its face like a mouth. The boy’s face is obscured under the hat, only shadows and the barest suggestions of eyes. With the thick brown gloves on his hands, not an inch of skin is clearly visible.

“Help, help!” he cries, sounding on the verge of tears. Not that anyone would know if he _was_ crying, with that hat overshadowing his entire face. “The sandlot! Seifer!”

“Seifer?” Sora practically scoffs, frowning deeply. “What are that overbearing busybody and his dumb cronies up to now?”

“Wow,” Azlyn points out, looking a little perturbed. “That was, like, unnecessarily hostile.” After a moment she adds, “And I kinda thought that was _my_ thing.”

The boy finally stops, panting and crying. “I was hanging out with Seifer in the sandlot, trying to learn some moves, when all of a sudden these freaky _things_ showed up!”

“What things?’ Telary asks, stepping away from Azlyn to Sora’s side. “We know of a lot of things that meet that description.”

“They wore white,” the young man explains, gesturing widely with his gloved hands. “And they were all slithering around, but in the air.”

“Nobodies then,” Sora says, fists clenched. “What is it about this place and Nobodies?”

“Where’s the sandlot?” Telary asks, getting a vague point from the upset boy. Deciding that it will have to be enough, he takes off, Sora following along behind him.

Azlyn looks down at the distraught little man. “What’s your name, kid?”

“V-Vivi, ma’am.”

The knight nods. “You’re on my list.” Not caring that her word spark another teary cry of anguish, she jogs along after her companions. “Don’t mind me, I was just trying to confess my innermost feelings here. It’s no big deal, really, it’s _super_ easy to build up the nerve to do something like that.”

It turns out that the sandlot is quite misnamed, as there isn’t an ounce of sand anywhere in the place. It’s just a small plaza surrounded on all sides by tall buildings, benches set up along the side. There are also a few stands that hold posterboards, and a chalk board with a recently erased tournament bracket.

But that all seems like background information considering the dozen or so Dusks currently roughing up Seifer and his Disciplinary Committee, Rai and Fu. The trio is putting up a rather valiant fight, but struggle bats and fists don’t do much against Nothingness solidified.

“Hey, it’s that jerk who yelled at us just for coming out of the woods last time we were here!” Azlyn points out, standing behind Sora and Telary in their ready stances.

“We save everyone from evil creatures Azlyn,” the wizard admonishes her. “Whether or not they were jerks to us in the past.”

Sora leaps in first, bringing down the Keyblade right on the spine of a Dusk sneaking up behind Seifer. The blond boy turns at the sound of the creature dissipating, frowning slightly at Sora and his weapon. But within a few seconds he decides to let it go, more concerned with survival than discipline for the moment.

Azlyn bats away a pair diving at Rai, hurling her shield hard enough to destroy one, then make a sharp ninety-degree turn to behead the other. She catches the disc too, then snaps out a kick that unfortunately misses.

But Telary picks up the stray, a ball of flame engulfing the Dusk and burning it into wispy black and white ashes. He ducks under a swung arm from another, then bats it away with the head of his staff. Sora is right there to catch it, swinging once and separating it in two.

Seifer makes an attempt to keep his tough guy cred up, slamming his fist into the zippered mouth of a Dusk that Azlyn had her eye on. It flinches, bringing a satisfied smirk to Seifer’s face. It isn’t there long, however, before a slap from a leathery limb knocks him back. Azlyn winces sympathetically, then goes in for the kill.

When all is said and done the battle isn’t terribly difficult, a far cry from the last time the trio had faced off with Nobodies in Twilight Town.

“I have to say, I like the small fry Nobodies a lot better than the Heartless,” Sora admits, hefting the Keyblade onto his shoulder. “Seems like there’s only one kind to worry about.”

Telary shakes his head. “Actually, I think Azlyn and I encountered another type back at Notre Dame,” he corrects. “It was much tougher than these sliding things.”

“You are correct,” a toneless voice suddenly sounds from above. Looking up, the trio see a man in a hooded Organization XIII coat standing on a building above, hands folded behind his back. He raises one gloved hand. “Let’s see if you possess comparable stalwartness.”

In a flash, a huge white behemoth appears before the heroes, a huge white claymore gripped in one of its massive hands.

“That’s the one!” Azlyn points out, already flinging her shield. It crashes against the large Nobody’s chest and bounces off ineffectually. The knight catches her weapon on the rebound, but knows better than to try again.

“It’ll be no match for the Keyblade!” Sora confidently declares, charging forward with his mystical weapon held high. He swings it his hardest, only to find that it is as useless as Azlyn’s shield was. For a second the boy is disoriented by the unexpected obstacle, long enough for the Berserker to almost absentmindedly knock him away with its free hand.

As Sora bounces against the pavement, the Nobody approaches Azlyn and Telary, swinging it claymore at the pair in a downward slash. They dive away, Azlyn right and Telary left.

Coming up out of his roll, Telary raises his staff and calls upon the power of his Thundara spell, sending over a thousand volts crashing into the menacing creature. It flinches, twitching slightly as the electricity courses through it, then settles, unharmed.

Sora attacks its flank, but the Nobody proves surprisingly quick, sidestepping the blow and pushing a massive hand into Sora’s back, sending the Keybearer sprawling once again. It raises its claymore once again, ready to smash the boy to a pulp…

In a flash of light accompanied by a sound like a balloon popping, the creature vanishes from the field of battle. Standing a few paces behind it is the Organization member, arms at his sides. Azlyn and Telary rush to Sora’s side, helping the boy to his feet.

“I must say, that is rather disappointing, Sora,” the Nobody says, his head shaking underneath the dark hood. “With the way I’ve see you fight Heartless, I’d think one of my pets would be an easy conquest.”

Sora’s eyes become narrower with every word that passes the cloaked being’s lips, until finally his brain makes a connection. “You showed up at Notre Dame. You fought that guy Axel, even though he wears the same cloak you do. He called you Number VII. What does that mean?”

For a long moment the apparent Number VII says nothing, only reaching up to his hood. He slowly pulls it back, revealing a long, thin face that somehow reminds Sora of a wolf. His eyes are a strange gold color that somehow seem disturbingly familiar, and his ears are pointed. Two small lines above the bridge of his nose form an X, and his blue hair falls into his hood. With a flick, he clears it away.

“That is my official rank in the Organization, but you may instead call me Saïx,” the Nobody answers, expressionless. “And what I did in that church, I did to protect you. You see, Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless. That is something Organization XIII do not wish to see happen.”

Sora frowns at the blue-haired Nobody. “Why not? I _am_ trying to stop you and whatever plans you have, you know.”

“I’m sure you think that,” Saïx says with a smirk, the first hint of expression he’s shown. “But truly Sora, it would break our hearts if something were to happen to you.”

“Hearts?’ Azlyn scoffs incredulously. “You don’t have hearts, Master Yen Sid said so. You just pretend to be human, when really you’re hardly any different from those white things.”

“Oh, but we _are_ different,” Number VII corrects gently. “We remember what it was like to have a heart, and use those memories to recreate emotions. Think of it as acting.”

“Well if this is what you call acting, I wouldn’t quit your day job,” the knight quips.

“Some are more committed to the role than others.” With another flick of his wrist, Saïx opens a dark passage. “But it serves us all well regardless. We know how hearts work, and thus how to injure one, beyond all repair if necessary.”

“I say we charge the portal,” Sora whispers to his companions, ignoring the Nobody’s rant. “I think it’ll lead us to their stronghold. Then we can take care of this once and for all!”

Saïx raises one eyebrow, his gaze still remote. “I’d think twice about your course of action, were I you. Acting recklessly can be a danger to your well-being, Sora.” His mouth twists in a cruel smirk, the one emotion that seems genuine on his face. “You don’t want to end up like Riku, do you?”

“What?” The statement throws Sora completely for a loop, his entire stance changing from battle-ready to reeling. “What’s happened to Riku? Do you know something about him? Where is he?”

Saïx takes a step back towards the portal, face impassive once again. “You just keep on fighting those Heartless, Sora.” With one last step the Nobody is in his portal, which promptly collapses in on itself.

Sora dismisses the Keyblade, a concerned look marring his features. He turns back to his companions, obviously worried. “What do you think he was talking about? Has Organization XIII done something to Riku?”

“I’m sure they’re trying,” Telary tells Sora, trying to sound confident. “But you have to remember, Sora, Riku is a really tough guy.”

“Yeah he is,” Azlyn chime in agreeably. “After all, anybody who can hold their own in a scrap with me isn’t gonna be pushed around by some Nobody jerks.”

“We’ll see Riku again.” Telary places a comforting hand on his young friend’s shoulder. “I guarantee it!”

“That’s real sweet.” Hearing the abrasive voice of an angry Seifer, the trio turn to see the self-proclaimed disciplinarian and his posse standing across the sandlot. They do not look happy. “Now would you get your freaky asses out of my town?”

“Um, excuse me!” Azlyn roars back, clenching her fists. “But if it weren’t for us, you and your little cronies would be smears on the pavement.” The knight turns back to her companions. “We save his life, and _this_ is the thanks we get.”

Before anyone else can reply, Seifer speaks up again. “You’re right, actually.” The trio turn to the local boy with shocked looks, and the Disciplinary Committee seems rather taken aback as well. “Get it, Rai.”

“But Seifer!” the bulky teen balks, a horrified expression replacing his usual dull one. “Are you sure you wanna do this, ya know?”

Seifer rolls his eyes and makes his way to one of the posterboards. Reaching behind it, he pulls out an intricate blue trophy decorated with four crystals: a red, a yellow, a green, and a blue.

“What is that?” Telary asks.

“Shiny,” Azlyn mutters to herself, mouth suddenly a bit watery.

“Seifer!” Rai calls out like he’s in physical pain. Fu says nothing, though her lips do purse the slightest bit, which in the silver-haired girl is a reaction akin to falling to her knees sobbing.

“This trophy is supposed to go to the toughest person in Twilight Town,” Seifer says, his voice a bit strained. This is obviously affecting him, but what honor demands one must give.

Sora’s eyes widen a little, and he points to himself in puzzlement.

“Uh, he’s obviously talking to _me_!” Azlyn scoffs, pushing past the Keybearer and snatching the blue trophy from Seifer’s hands. Looking it over more closely, she whistles lowly. When she reaches the golden nameplate at the base, which obviously reads “Seifer”, she frowns. “I wonder if anything on the ship will get this off…”

Seifer scowls at the knight, but nevertheless backs off several paces. He turns his hard look back to Sora and Telary. “This is my thanks for the assist, but rest assured, I _will_ get it back someday. Count on it.”

That said, the boy thumbs his nose dismissively and turns to walk away, Rai and Fu falling in behind him. Tears are running down Rai’s cheeks, and Fu spares an absolutely murderous glance for the trio before the Disciplinary Committee make their exit.

Azlyn makes her way back to the boys, still looking over her new trophy appreciatively. “Well, _I_ feel better now. How about you, Sora?”

The Keybearer gives his friend a weak smile. “Now that you mention it… No, not really.” Actually, a bit of a thrill _does_ rush through him at the thought of possessing the trophy, but he has no idea why it would.

Azlyn shrugs and polishes the green crystal on the sleeve of her jacket. This admittedly doesn’t make up for her chance of talking to Telary slipping away, but it does ease the pain.

Telary places a hand on Sora’s shoulder. “Well, when we ask Yen Sid about the Keyholes, we’ll make sure to mention Riku too. If he’s been in contact with King Mickey, I’m sure Yen Sid will know something about Riku.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Well, that’s no good!” Azlyn announces, placing the trophy under her arm to gesture at the empty Zero Platform in the Twilight Town train station. The Ghost Train is nowhere to be seen.

“I kinda thought it would be a long shot anyway,” Sora declares with a shrug, running a hand through the spikes of his hair. “But it’s no big deal.”

“Isn’t it?” Azlyn asks, once again rearranging her rather heavy trophy. “Or are you just trying to keep up your ‘eternal optimism’ thing?”

The Keybearer sighs, his whole body drooping. “The second one.”

“We’ll figure something out, Sora,” Telary promises the younger boy. He really hates to see his friend in such a state. “But, hey, maybe it’ll cheer you up if you see Olette and those guys again.”

They exit the station just in time to conveniently run into said teenage trio. They all look up at the offworlders in a combination of shock and sadness. Looking them over, Sora notes that Olette’s leg is actually wrapped in a white bandage, and there are shallow cuts along Hayner’s arms.

“What happened to you guys?” Sora demands concernedly, shoving past Azlyn and the trophy. “Are you okay?”

“We’re fine, Sora,” Olette replies, sounding unreasonably nervous. “Well, physically anyway. It’s just that, er…”

“Um,” Pence picks up, just as anxious. “The thing is that, well…”

“It’s about your friend Kairi,” Hayner spits out in a rush, like it’s painful to admit.

“Kairi?” Sora’s eyebrows rise as far as they can go, and Telary takes a step down to stand beside the boy. “How do you guys know Kairi?” In a flash he perks up, emotions racing through his body like a direct caffeine injection. “Is she here?”

“That’s what we’re trying to say, Sora,” Olette answers, swallowing thickly. “She was here, but…”

“But _what_?” Sora and Telary demand simultaneously.

“Hey, okay, okay,” Hayner picks up, holding up his hands placatingly. “So, here’s what happened…”

**KH-KH-KH**

_“…And that’s pretty much everything,” Kairi finished explaining, leaning back into the cushions of the hangout spot’s green couch. “Me and Sora, my brother, how I got here… Everything.”_

_“Wow,” Pence said, his fingers steepled in front of his face. “That’s an amazing story, Kairi! And to think that it’s all true.”_

_Hayner tried to act unimpressed, but it was obvious that was a deception. “I dunno, the whole thing about the long-lost brother seemed kinda hokey to me.”_

_“Oh, shut up,” Olette admonished the blond. She leaned closer to Kairi, one arm flung over the back of the couch. “I think it sounds like a really romantic story, Kairi. I wish something like that could happen to me.”_

_Kairi chuckled, shaking her head. “Believe me Olette, you don’t.” She stood up and walked over to the board on the back wall, several pictures and old flyers pinned to it. She absentmindedly picked at one, then turned to the group with her back pressed against the wall. “But thanks for everything, really.”_

_Olette beamed at the auburn-haired girl, always happy to help. “It’s like I told you, Kairi, Sora said he’s coming back. If you just wait here for a while...”_

_“That’s the problem,” Kairi interrupted, frowning. “It feels like all I do is sit around and wait for Sora. I wish I could just find a way to go to_ him _.”_

_“But I already told you, Kairi,” a snarky, contemptuous voice suddenly said from the alley’s entrance, “I can take you straight to him.”_

_“Axel!” Kairi cried out in shock and fear._

_Everyone else gasped at the suddenly appeared man standing in the doorway. Hayner was the first to react, charging at the flame-haired creep with his fists flailing. Axel only rolled his eyes and pushed the kid aside. With a crash, the trio’s de facto leader landed in a pile of glass soda bottles, breaking a few and receiving a myriad of tiny cuts along his bare arms._

_Pence charged next, but he managed to miss the man altogether. He crashed into the metal fence outside the entrance, then fell back on his rear, dazed._

_Axel looked over the boys, an amused smirk decorating his features. “Gee, Kairi, you’ve really downgraded your bodyguards since the last time I saw you. Fall on hard times?”_

_His gloating over, the cloaked man wasted no time opening a dark portal behind him, already stalking forward. Kairi gritted her teeth and made an attempt to call upon the same bursts of Light she’d employed back on the islands, but ultimately nothing happened._

_Axel easily grabbed her wrist, pulling the Princess of Heart along behind him despite her struggles. Grunting, she tried to lock her legs, but a quick tug sent her stumbling forward._

_The pair were just about to enter the portal when Axel felt a sudden impact against his cloak, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. Snarling, he turned to see Olette standing against him, another old soda bottle reared back for a throw._

_Before she got the chance, he flicked his fingers almost dismissively, a low wave of fire rushing towards her. She stumbled back and hopped up on the couch to avoid the flames, but a few still managed to lick against her shin. The brunette girl winced as the burns settled in._

_Satisfied that there would be no more attacks, Axel turned back to his portal and tugged Kairi along with him once again. On the cusp of the portal she lashed out with a kick that actually managed to get a pained reaction, but by then Axel was simply too determined to let anything stop him._

_Dragging the girl the last few feet, Axel went into the portal. Not a moment later, it disappears, vanished without a trace._

**KH-KH-KH**

At the conclusion of the Twilight Town gang’s story, the entire trio is in a state of absolute shock. Azlyn’s grip on her trophy is loose, Telary’s jaw is slack as tears begin to spill over his eyelids, and Sora actually has to sit down. The boy practically collapses, though if the impact hurts he doesn’t notice. He’s far too numb.

Reaching into a pouch, he pulls out the star-shaped thalassa charm that Kairi had given to him with the promise that he return it to her one day. He’d thought that day might be soon approaching, but now it seems farther off than ever before.

“We’re so sorry, you guys,” Olette declares, wiping at her wet eyes.

“It’s all our fault he took her,” Hayner agrees, aggressively kicking at the stone of the plaza. “If I had just been…”

“No, hey, don’t talk like that!” Sora interrupts, suddenly shooting to his feet and pocketing he charm once again. Despite his own turmoil, the boy somehow feels it is his duty to reassure the gang. “You did the best you could, I know that. You can’t let what happened get you down.” He winces, shaking his head to stave off any waterworks. “Oh man, like I can even say that.”

Azlyn can only look at Telary, who is making no attempt to avert tears. The wizard looks so sad and vulnerable, and she just wants to reach out and make things better with a touch.

In her distraction the knight drops her trophy to the ground. It lands with a jarring _thunk_ , the crystals adorning it breaking off and bouncing down the steps with tiny _clink_ noises.

The Twilight Town trio react immediately, moving to intercept the bouncing orbs. Hayner grabs the red, Olette cups the yellow in her hands, and Pence just barely manages to intercept the green before it rolls past him. As for the blue, it bounces once against Telary’s shin, then the wizard bends to pick it up.

Sora looks at the orb in Telary’s hand, then suddenly remembers that he’s seen something like it before. Reaching into another pouch, he pulls out an identical sphere of polished blue crystal. Biting his lip, he holds the thing up to the sun.

The others follow suit with their crystals, and Azlyn watches the whole thing with a frown, feeling really left out.

_Sora casts his gaze over the Twilight Town natives again, and suddenly they aren’t standing in the plaza, but rather sitting on a ledge under the face of the clock tower above. Each one of them still hold their crystal._

_But there’s a fourth person present, a boy dressed in white, black, and grey. His blonde hair is just as spiked as Sora’s, but somehow seems far better put together. He holds the blue crystal, smiling at it satisfactorily._

_After a moment of appreciation, the blond boy turns to look at Sora, giving him the same look he’d given the crystal. He opens his mouth, ready to say something…_

“Hey, Sora!” Azlyn’s abrasive yell pierces the odd fantasy, and Sora is shocked back to reality.

He’s still holding up the crystal, and looking around he can see he’s the only one. Shaking his head to clear it, he gives the rest of the group a sheepish grin, almost apologetic.

“As I was saying,” Hayner huffs, clearly upset at not being heard the first time, “it’s really weird that you have that second crystal.”

“Yeah,” Pence agrees. “There’s supposed to only be one like it in the entire world.”

“And that’s not the first supposedly unique thing you’ve had a copy of,” Olette reminds everyone, pulling out her little orange bag. Across the way, Telary holds his up as well. “I made that bag myself.”

For a moment everyone is silent, contemplating the mystery before them. Then suddenly the calm is broken by a brilliant spark of light from the crystals in everyone’s hands. Everyone except Sora’s that is. At first it just seems like a reflection of the sun’s light, but Sora knows better, summoning the Keyblade.

The four crystals rise into the air, arranging themselves in a circle as Sora is transported to the heart of Twilight Town. They spin around as if in a dance, then a beam of Light flies from the center of the formation, revealing a shimmering keyhole that Sora unlocks with a beam of Light.

Sora barely has time to reorient himself once he’s back in the plaza, as Hayner, Pence, and Olette immediately rush up to him. The crystals float back down into Azlyn’s hand.

“What was that about?” Pence asks, frowning at the Keybearer.

“A new road is open,” Sora explains, determination and grit in his voice. He dismisses the Keyblade, then clenches the fist it once occupied. “And Kairi and Riku are somewhere along it.”

“You’d better hurry then,” Olette says, nodding as she understands the urgency of the offworlders’ mission.

“Will you come back?” Hayner asks, trying to sound like it doesn’t really matter one way or the other to him.

“Yeah, I promise,” Sora confirms, his heart inexplicably lighting up again at the thought of seeing these three once more. Suddenly, an idea strikes him. “And in the meantime, if you three see a mysterious Keyhole anywhere, make a note of it.”

“Why?” Pence asks.

“It’s important, trust us,” Azlyn declares.

“Okay, we’ll take a look around,” Hayner promises, sticking out a hand. Sora shakes it right back, with just the barest hint of a smile on his lips.

It’s all he can do to hide his broken heart.

**KH-KH-KH**

It really says something about the course of Kairi’s life the past few days that she’s beginning to get used to running with a hand clamped firmly around her wrist.

Axel pulls her out of the portal and into a rocky ravine. Blue stone cliffs rise on either side of them, far too high to even contemplate scaling without equipment. The purple sky above is just barely brightened by a rising sun, and most of the illumination is provided by crystals as large as she is, glowing with a soft white light.

Tugging her to the side, but keeping his iron grip around her arm, Axel flings out his free hand and discharges a torrent of fire that sufficiently fries the trio of Dusks in hot pursuit. As soon as they’re gone, he closes the corridor behind them.

The cloaked man lets out a deep breath and wipes a bit of sweat off his forehead. He looks tired, so Kairi attempts to jerk herself free. The grip remains tight.

He looks to her with a smirk. “Do you really think I’d put in all this effort just to let you slip away?” He shakes his head imperiously. “No, princess, you might as well get used to hanging with me.”

Kairi scowls at the nickname, but stops trying to get free. She’s engaged in enough physical activity for today. For several days, it feels like.

“What are those things doing hunting us?” she demands. If she’s going to be stuck with this guy, she might was well learn what’s up with the constant pursuit. “It seemed like they followed your orders back on the island, and now they’re chasing after you.”

Axel grumbles in the back of his throat, but after a moment he turns to her and explains. “Look, it’s sorta hard to explain, Kairi. I guess the simplest explanation it is that me and the club I used to belong to aren’t seeing eye to eye at the moment.”

“Why, did you do something?”

The cloaked man snorts, seemingly amused with the question. “Yeah, I did. Something pretty stupid, actually.” His amusement turns to bitterness. “But in the end, what it comes down to is that we have very different ideas about your boyfriend.”

Kairi frowns at the indirect mention of Sora. “Why do you want him? Do you need something unlocked with his Keyblade?”

“As a matter of fact,” Axel states enigmatically, “Sora is actually the last person I want around.”

Now it’s Kairi’s turn to grumble, which actually just gets Axel amused again.

“You know something,” she tells him, “you don’t make any sense to me at all, Axel.” Her frown becomes a scowl. “I don’t _like_ things that don’t make sense.”

Axel laughs, though whether it’s a reaction to the implied threat or something else entirely is unclear. As he comes down from his mirth, he scratches at the side of his head. “You’re tellin’ me, Kairi. As it happens, I’m not making much sense to _me_ either.”

That is definitely not what Kairi would call helpful. She closes her eyes and tries for another burst of Light, but nothing comes. Whatever it was that empowered her back on the play island, she just can’t seem to muster it up again. It’s just one more item in a long list of frustrating things.

“Y’see Kairi, I’m what’s called a Nobody,” Axel explains. “And there’s a lot of claptrap that comes with that, but the main thing is that I’ve got no heart. That means no emotions.”

“Is _crazy_ an emotion?” Kairi quips, one eyebrow raised. “Because if it is, then I think I’d have to disagree with that point.”

“I remember what emotions were like,” Axel continues, acting as if she hadn’t said a thing. “And I’m supposed to just fake ‘em using those memories. Like, what’s Saïx always calling it…? Like being an actor.” He sighs. “But lately, well, it’s starting to seem like things aren’t that simple.”

“Do you think you _do_ have a heart?” Kairi asks. “Because if you do, then I’m sure you could just _ask_ Sora for help.” She smiles at her memories of the boy. “He’s the kind of guy who’d say yes, I guarantee it. It’s one of the greatest things about him.”

“He wouldn’t say yes in my case.”

“See, that’s where I _know_ you’re wrong…”

“I’m gonna turn him into a Heartless!” Axel blurts finally, so frustrated he actually drops Kairi’s wrist. The look in his eyes is wild again, manic. That in combination with his heavy breathing sends a clear sign to Kairi that it’s time to take her leave.

She turns and sprints for the far end of the ravine, pushing herself as hard as she can, then giving it even more. Her legs are burning, but she’s seen enough of Axel in action to know that even worse burning is in her future if she doesn’t keep going all out.

Axel makes a frustrated noise behind her, and she hears the _whoosh_ of flying flames. She refuses to look back, however, not willing to give up one iota of speed.

A Heartless! Axel wants to turn Sora into a _Heartless_! And to think Kairi had almost begun feeling sorry for that lowlife. Well, there’s no way she’s going to stick around and be bait for some evil scheme that would hurt Sora.

She runs for what feels like an hour, though is in actuality barely ten minutes. Strangely, she doesn’t hear anything like a pursuit behind her. Deciding it’s worth it, she risks a quick peek behind her. As expected, no Axel.

She stops, bending over to catch her breath. She normally likes to run, is quite physically fit, but sprinting as hard as she can for so long is definitely not her forté.

After a minute she manages to look up. What she sees in the distance nearly knocks her breath right back out.

Far away, maybe two or three miles, a large stone wall, grey instead of the blue rock of the canyons, stands out amongst the purple sky. It’s curved at either end, most likely encircling whatever is within.

But that’s not what has Kairi’s attention.

A castle, more like a huge citadel really, rises into the sky from beyond the wall. It looks just as she remembers it, as massive and terrifying and wonderful as she remembers.

“Oh, wow,” she breathes, taking a stumbling step forward into the open blue plain outside the ravine. “This must be Hollow Bastion. I’m home.”

Memories flood her mind, of life with her grandmother, Azlyn and Telary seemingly always by her side. Of the marketplace, and going on supervised explorations of the canyons beyond town. Playing in the garden, picking flowers to arrange into colorful bouquets to present to Grandma. Childhood.

“No, wait,” she mutters to herself, suddenly feeling a new spark of memory. “Not Hollow Bastion, that’s not what it was called.”

“Radiant Garden.”

Startled, she whirls and whips her head up to see the speaker standing on a boulder not far away. He’s dressed in the same black cloak as Axel, but his hair is blue and his eyes are gold, or maybe amber. Disturbingly so.

“Yes, I remember the name well,” he says, expression nonexistent. “Those who forgot had their memories corrupted. Memories that lie in their hearts. Having no heart myself, I am not so afflicted.”

For a second Kairi thinks to ask about this mysterious having lived here, but before she can another bit of information marks itself as more important.

“No heart, huh?” she says defiantly. “That means you’re a Nobody like Axel. I guess I should have been able to tell by the wardrobe. Are you with him?”

The Nobody shakes his head once, still not emoting in the slightest. “I can assure you, Axel and I are different in many respects. Some might even say we are opposites.”

Five Dusks spring up around Kairi, trapping the Princess of Heart between them. Kairi looks around at them quickly, then turns her eyes back to Blue Hair.

“You both seem to want me for something,” she points out, her fists clenched. “And the methods for keeping me don’t seem to differ much.”

“My intention is not to hurt Sora, girl. In fact, I and my comrades need him to be operating at the peak of his ability.”

A dark corridor springs open at the bottom of Blue Hair’s boulder, Axel emerging with his chakrams in his hands.

“Saïx, you conniving bastard!” the flame-haired Nobody calls up to his peer. “Even your Somebody always liked stealing mine’s toys.”

“Toy!” Kairi can’t help herself from blurting, offended. “I’m right here!”

Saïx shrugs of both Kairi and Axel’s outbursts. “As a matter of fact, Axel, it seems like you’ve managed to stumble upon a brilliant idea. Kairi will be the perfect tool to stoke Sora’s anger.”

“Tool!” Kairi exclaims again, really starting to get hocked off. “Toy, tool, man I hope there aren’t any ladies in this Organization of yours!”

There’s a sudden sound of large mass displacement behind Kairi, and she turns to see the massive form of a Berserker appear behind her.

“You’re welcome to fight me for her, Axel,” Saïx challenges his fellow Nobody, the feigned contempt in his words sounding like the most genuine emotion he’s ever attempted. “But then you never have beaten me before, I seem to recall.”

Axel hesitates, his body flinching visibly. Quickly he darts a look to Kairi and the creature behind her, then looks back to Saïx. Finally, with a look of resigned helplessness, he disappears into Darkness.

With the traitor gone, Saïx steps off the blue boulder and strides towards Kairi. Approaching the girl, he notices an odd look on her face. He assumes it must be chagrin that Axel would so easily abandon her. He read something about a mental quirk that sometime resulted in positive feelings for one’s captor. It was another of the many times he was pleased to not have emotions to deal with.

Kairi wants to struggle again, turn tail and try to run to the town where she was born, but she’s too exhausted. And not just physically, her spirit beaten down far worse than her body.

“Well, I guess one kidnapper is the same as the other,” she says, relenting. She raises her head to look Saïx in his disturbing eyes. “Though truth be told, Axel seemed way less menacing.”

“Yes,” Saïx confirms with an emotionless nod. “Yes he is.”

**KH-KH-KH**

When they return to the Gummi ship, Sora says nothing, only stalks off to his room. Azlyn and Telary just watch him go, knowing better than to follow. Telary takes off for the cockpit a moment later, leaving Azlyn alone with Jiminy.

“Something happened?” the tiny chronicler inquires. “Something pretty bad I take it.”

“Kairi,” Azlyn answers in monotone. “She’s in danger again. Some lowlife Nobody named Axel took her, apparently.” She lets out a sigh. “Things are looking pretty grim.”

“You seem okay,” Jiminy notes.

Azlyn shrugs. “Better than them, at least. I barely remember the girl from when we were young, and I don’t have Telary’s family connection.” Another sigh passes her lips, this one deeper. “Besides, one of us has to keep themselves in check.”

Jiminy only nods sympathetically, and Azlyn walks past him to climb up the cockpit.

Telary is sitting in the righthand passenger chair, reading something on one screen. He looks blank, only taking in the words academically.

“What is it?” she asks, taking her own usual lefthand seat.

“Message from Leon,” the wizard replies, inadvertently doing his best Saïx impersonation. “Something’s going on at Hollow Bastion apparently, he wants us there right away.”

Azlyn nods, watches the redhead move from the passenger chair to his pilot seat. “How are you holding up with this? She is your sister after all.”

Telary sighs, sounding much like Azlyn did belowdecks. After a moment he turns to face her, biting his lip nervously.

“It’s complicated”’ he admits, shrugging. His eyes are still wet from the crying he did upon receiving the news, but it seems as if his time for tears has passed. “On the one hand, she _is_ my sister, my younger sister no less, and I just instinctively feel very protective of her. I have a few memories of her, and a lot of them involve worrying about her safety.”

It appears Azlyn miscalculated, as a single tear streaks down her counterpart’s cheek before he continues. “On the other hand, of course, I barely know her. Even if I did have clear childhood memories, that doesn’t really mean anything. There’s no way she hasn’t changed since she was four.”

Azlyn doesn’t know quite what to say, but she nods. Pushing up her jacket sleeve she rubs her hand against the twine of the necklace Kairi had given her as a token of remembrance before they left to seal Hollow Bastion. Three single thalassa shells are braided on, kept in place by how tight Azlyn has it tied to her forearm.

Suddenly inspired, she unwraps the necklace. She stands and walks over to Telary, placing it over his neck and tying its ends together. She steps back and looks him over. He gives her a strong smile back, one hand over the shells, and _goodness_ is she in love with him.

“Hey,” the wizard suddenly says, frowning, “I completely forgot, you wanted to talk to me earlier, back in Twilight Town. I’m sorry I let it slip my mind. What was it about?”

There are some moments in life that are just perfect, moments with inevitable outcomes that just beg to be reached for. Moments where everything is meant to change.

Swallowing deeply, Azlyn accepts that this is not one of those moments. And maybe the moment she wants will never come.

“It’s nothing,” she says after a second, keeping a tight rein on her voice and expression. Neither slip in the slightest. “Not in light of everything else, anyway.”

Telary nods once, then swivels around to input navigational data. “I’m going to Warp us to Hollow Bastion, just thought you should know. Wouldn’t want you to get all tossed around, would we?”

Azlyn laughs, but there’s a tiny hitch in it that she can’t hide. Luckily, Telary doesn’t seem to notice.


	27. Restoration

The teleportation beam lands the trio several feet off from Merlin’s house, which is kind of perfect, since things are definitely “off” with all of them.

Without a word they make their way down the street, which is devoid of anyone else. It puts them all on edge, just as they were becoming used to Hollow Bastion being a lively, more-or-less ordinary place.

Nobody says anything, though, just silently heading for the Restoration Committee’s makeshift home base. It’s a good thing they’re keeping their mouths shut, too, or they might have missed the raucous clanking of the Soldier Heartless.

Azlyn hears it first, but something in Sora senses the Heartless presence a fraction of a second before even that, and he turns to the alley first. Looking down it, he can see a trio of Soldiers huddling together, as if they’re schoolchildren sharing a secret.

The creatures take one look at the nearby trio and take off like they’ve been caught sharing said secret, and have no intention of Teacher finding out. It’s the first time Sora, Azlyn, and Telary can recall Heartless ducking out instead of engaging.

Telary’s about to comment on the oddness when there’s a sudden slithering sound above them, like a snake gliding on air currents. Turning, they catch a brief glimpse of five Dusks before the Nobodies duck out as well.

“Okay, this is weird,” Azlyn points out bluntly, mouth twisted in disgust.

“There seem to be a lot of bad guys around here,” Telary agrees, not noticing how the mere sound of his voice makes his counterpart look regretful. “It’s probably why Leon called us. The message was very specific that we come back ASAP.”

“If Leon needs help stomping a few Nobodies, I’m in,” Sora says with an odd mixture of conviction and glee. Telary’s sure he’s never heard that tone in his young friend’s voice before.

They enter Merlin’s house without knocking, though to be more specific Azlyn storms in and the boys awkwardly follow. At this point, they’re used to the knight breaking all rules and social conventions.

Leon is the only member of the Restoration Committee inside, sitting in an armchair and looking much dourer than he did during the trio’s last visit. It’s unerringly quiet in the small house, and even Cid’s computer appears powered down.

“Uh, hi,” Telary awkwardly offers as a first greeting, getting in return an effortlessly cool nod from Leon.

“Hey, you guys,” Leon says, standing up from his chair. It squeaks a little as he leaves it. “Glad you could make it so soon… Though I wish it were under different circumstances.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Azlyn asks without tact.

“Does it have something to do with all the Heartless and Nobodies we saw in the street?” Sora adds.

At the mention of Heartless and Nobodies, Leon’s mouth curves downward in a frown that seems vaguely disapproving rather than angry. “Yeah it does. We actually had to scale back the power we were allocating to the defense grid, send it somewhere else.”

“What would be so important that you’d have to do that?” Telary asks, and just as Leon opens his mouth to answer the door bangs open once again.

“Oh good!” exclaims the unmistakable voice of LeBlanc, who sounds seriously relieved. “I was beginning to think they were going to miss out on everything!”

“Everything what?” Sora asks aloud, turning to the door. LeBlanc stands in it, wearing a tight dress of sea green. It covers much more than her last outfit, extending down both arms to her wrists and up to her throat, but it’s also a lot tighter. Add in the thigh-high slit in its right side, and the outfit manages to retain LeBlanc’s unique, risqué charm.

LeBlanc frowns over the trio’s heads at Leon, who matches her expression. “You mean you didn’t tell them?” she asks the gunblade wielder, incredulous. “I thought I gave you the invitation to encode.”

Leon shrugs. “It seemed like a waste of time and tech, when they’re just going to find out anyway.”

“Find out about what?” Azlyn asks, a bit on edge with all the cryptic phrasings flying around the room.

LeBlanc’s smile returns, like she’s cat that’s just spotted an already-glazed canary. “Why, the 1st Annual Hollow Bastion Restoration Ball, of course.”

“A _ball_?” Sora, Azlyn, and Telary exclaim as one, equally confused by the statement.

“Why yes, of course,” LeBlanc confirms with an exuberant nod, like this is the greatest thing to ever happen. To her, it kind of is. “That’s why we’ve had to take some liberties with the defense grid. You wouldn’t believe how much power it takes to light up that castle in working order.”

“The castle?” Sora asks, an edge to his voice that is in no way normal, or a good sign. “You’re going to have this ball in the _castle_?”

“Yes, of course,” LeBlanc confirms, her smile faltering a bit at the Keybearer’s tone. “It’s the largest venue we’ve got around these parts, obviously. Besides, it’s just the kind of symbolism the people need, I think. Turning a source of so much dread into one of joy.”

“I actually think Leon might have mentioned it before,” Telary notes thoughtfully. “And I think this could be a good idea. Well, except for the part where you’re powering down the defense grid.”

“Quistis is on it,” Leon says, reassuring but still obviously displeased with the situation. “The Guard Corp is doing what it can to pick up the slack, and Cid thinks he can eventually make the generator work well enough to handle both tasks.”

Azlyn shrugs. “It could be fun, I guess.”

“Yeah, _fun_.” The statement comes out sharp from Sora’s mouth, and his eyes roll bitterly. “Because that’s exactly the word I associate with that castle. It was just _nonstop_ laughs the last time I was there!”

“Sora…” Telary cautions, but the Keybearer is too far gone now to listen.

“Like, like remember how much _fun_ it was that my best friend was possessed by the spirit of a Darkness-obsessed fanatical scientist, so I was forced to destroy his body? Oh, or the _neat_ way all those helpless young women, including my other best friend, were captured and frozen like meat in a locker until an evil sorceress could extract their hearts and flood all worlds with absolute Darkness?”

No one can say anything at this point; those who know Sora are surprised and concerned by his out-of-character rant, and LeBlanc is just scared.

“But hey, do you know what I think was the _best_ part of that _great_ trip?” Sora asks as a big finish, the faux-amusement in his voice fading out into pure rage. “I think my _favorite_ part was when I was told that Kairi’s heart had hidden itself _inside_ mine, so the only way to free it was to _become a Heartless_ myself, and to do that, I had to _stab myself_ in the _chest_ with a _dark blade_ made from _captive hearts_! _That_ was just _excellent_!”

Silence reins in the moments following the Keybearer’s enraged declaration, and LeBlanc is the first to rebel against its rule, albeit _very_ cautiously.

“I believe the version of your heroics I was given omitted the part about the stabbing,” she says numbly. “But I assure you that we aren’t going to go anywhere near the upper levels. The ballroom is right across the Lift Stop shaft from the entrance hall.”

Sora shakes his head, already stomping his way to the still-open door. “Like I said, that sounds just great for you all, but I actually think I’ll just sit this one out, if you don’t mind.” Before leaving entirely, he casts a last angry look around the room. “Have fun partying where probably six of the ten most traumatic moments of my life happened.” With that and a final huff, he slams the door and storms off down the street.

Leon waits until the boy is out of earshot to say anything, looking concerned all the while. “That was certainly out-of-character. I’ve _never_ seen Sora act anything like that.” The Hollow Bastion leader turns to Azlyn and Telary. “Did something happen?”

“Yeah,” Telary confirms with a grimace. “Y’see, there was this… Well, it just so happens that… We think some Nobodies…”

“A Nobody named Axel took Kairi,” Azlyn finishes, unable to see her friend struggle for words any longer. “And we’re not sure why, but he’s probably using her to get to Sora.”

Leon nods. “So he’s scared, feeling guilty, and mad as hell. I can relate to that. It’s the same way I felt when this world was lost to Maleficent.”

“So, it seems we’re down one honored guest, then,” LeBlanc says worriedly, staring at the closed door and wringing her hands. She shakes her head before turning back to the group. “I’m so terribly sorry, if I’d only known…”

Telary holds up a hand. “No problem, Miss LeBlanc. You were only thinking of the people of this town, and I honestly think a little bit of a party could be good for everyone.”

The door slams open again, and for half a heartbeat everyone expects to see Sora again, but instead it’s Yuffie who stands in the doorway, grinning toothily.

“Hey everyone!” she greets the assembled group happily, her smile focused on Azlyn and Telary. “What’s going on? I just saw Sora like, _stalking_ down the street, and when I talked to him he totally gave me the brush off. And he didn’t even say anything, he just gave me a look.” The ninja turns her chin up at Leon. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been giving him Brooding lessons.”

“Very funny,” the gunblade wielder deadpans. “All you need to know is that Sora is in a bit of a funk right now, and it’s a long story as for why.”

Yuffie just nods, cheerily enough, before turning back to Azlyn and Telary with a borderline lewd grin. “So, you two gonna be each other’s dates for the ball tonight?”

Telary looks thoughtfully at Azlyn, but she studiously avoids any eye contact.

“No!” she declares, practically yelling it, her voice rising several octaves into the squeakier ends of her range. A silence almost like a physical object dropped on the room hangs around for a few moments afterwards.

Azlyn knows that everyone is staring at her, especially Telary. She chooses to face the looks of the others, because even combined they don’t make her feel half as unnerved as Telary’s.

“Not that I think there’s something wrong with that,” she explains, keeping her eyes firmly on Yuffie’s headband. “But, y’know, I don’t need to take, y’know, a _date_ to the party. I mean, hello, I am an independent woman! Hear me roar!” Then she actually _does_ give her best version of a roar, which just pushes the moment down a bottomless canyon of awkwardness.

“Well, in that case,” says LeBlanc, whose most developed skill seems to be pushing past uncomfortable conversational situations, “would you mind being _my_ escort, dear Telary?”

There’s a brief moment where Azlyn is frantically trying to remember the signs of a stroke, but she gets it under control before anything drastic happens.

“Well, uh…” Telary stutters and stammers, looking everywhere but at LeBlanc or Azlyn. His thoughts mirror Azlyn’s in the “could I be having some kind of medical incident” department. Finally, he composes himself and faces LeBlanc with a smile. “Yes, I think I would like that a lot.”

“Oh, splendid!” LeBlanc declares, grabbing the wizard’s hand and planting a big wet kiss on the back of it. His smile weakens, but remains in place.

“It’s a good thing I already got myself a man,” Yuffie says as suggestively as she can (which is a whole lot). “Isn’t that right, Leon?”

The Restoration Committee leader folds his arms across his chest and rolls his eyes. “If you’ll recall, I only said yes so that you’d stop pestering me about it.”

The ninja sticks out her tongue at the older man. “Still counts.” Smiling, she turns and grabs Azlyn by the wrist. “C’mon, Az, me’n Aerith are doing a whole makeover thing at her place. Gotta look good for tonight, amiright?”

“Sure are, Yuffie,” Azlyn confirms with a weak nod. She spots Telary out of the corner of her eye as she’s dragged away. He’s not frowning or anything, but it’s clear in his eyes that something has upset him pretty seriously. It’s probably because of Sora’s weird moodiness.

“When you’re done, bring her to my house, dear!” LeBlanc calls after the pair. “I have three spare rooms our offworld friends can stay in.” The wealthy woman turns to Telary and shoots him a suggestive wink. “Though who knows, they may only need to use _two_ of them.”

That is as good a cue as any for Telary to cut and run. “Uh, if you’ll excuse me, I have to look for Sora. See if he’s okay.”

LeBlanc immediately pulls out a small laminated card and hands it to the mage. “This is my address. I’ll be doing my own preparations the rest of the day, but one of my men there will let you and your friends in. I’ve taken the liberty of pulling out some old tuxedos for you boys, and I just know there’s something in my closet Azlyn will die for.”

For a brief moment Telary thinks about Azlyn in an outfit like LeBlanc would wear, and it’s a minor miracle that his brain doesn’t start throwing off sparks right then and there.

**KH-KH-KH**

The good thing about a town in a state of renewal is that it seems to spur people to build a lot of parks. They’re good places to relax, take pets or children, and even find some time alone if one wants it bad enough.

Sora wants _very_ badly to be alone right now, so he finds a very small park, more like a flowery little nook than anything, and parks his butt on one of the two benches in the small grassy area. Another great thing about this tiny park is that it faces away from the castle, so the only reminders of his “adventures” there are mental instead of mental _and_ physical.

How could they think that it would be good to hold a _party_ in such a cursed, evil place? Surely many townspeople have painful memories tied up in the massive structure as well, though most of them were likely forgotten due to the world and its inhabitants’ mild corruption.

It’s all that weird LeBlanc woman’s idea, and Sora definitely doesn’t trust her yet. What really gets him upset is that Leon would support her, no matter how reluctantly. Of all the people Sora knows (who aren’t enemies), he thinks Leon is the person least likely to want a party, to celebrate. Not with so much still left to figure out.

Sora’s made a vow to himself that he’s not going to celebrate anything until he has Kairi with him once again, though he considers that he might have to add a loophole around killing Nobodies. The good thing about vows to yourself is that you can rewrite them in whatever way you want.

“Oh, hey Sora!”

The Keybearer actually has to blink twice before it seems his eyes are working correctly, drawing him out of the indistinct haze of deep moping. His ears need a bit of calibration too, before he recognizes the voice.

Phineas and Ferb amble over to him, and it looks like they’ve left both their pets, both the giant mechanical and semi-aquatic kind, elsewhere. They also look extremely happy.

“Hi Phineas,” Sora greets without much spirit. He looks to Ferb for a moment as well, but the wide stare of the green-haired kid is unnerving enough to push him right back to the cheerful Phineas. “What are you two doing today? You look excited.”

“We are Sora,” Phineas answers, still peppy and enthusiastic. Sora remembers when he was that way, before shadow monsters and lost friends. “Y’see, today’s our mom and dad’s anniversary, but with the big party going on at the castle, we were worried it’d get lost in all the noise.”

The way that Phineas speaks of the castle as if he has no idea what lurks inside makes Sora want to get up and leave, but he’s helpless against that wide-eyed stare the kid has.

“So we’re putting together something a little special. Have you ever heard of the band Love Hӓndel?”

Sora shakes his head, just barely staving off the urge to remind Phineas that he is not in fact of this world.

“Well, my mom and dad love ‘em,” Phineas explains. “The band broke up a few years before the evacuation, and Ferb, my sister Candace, and I just got them back together to play for the ball as an anniversary gift!”

“That’s… cool,” Sora says, his lip curling at yet another mention of that stupid ball. Still, it actually is a really sweet thing Phineas and Ferb are doing for their parents.

“Yeah, everybody’s really excited about the ball,” Phineas says, actually sounding wistful. Sora thinks it’s kind of weird, a kid as young as Phineas being _wistful_.

“Are they now?” Sora says, barely hiding his distaste. Unable to keep it bottled up any longer, he sighs. “But what’s the point of it all, Phineas? With all the bad things happening in this world, in the whole _universe_ even, what good is a big party?”

The Keybearer’s dour statement gives even Phineas a brief pause, and in a shocking twist, Ferb comes in to pick up the slack.

“After such a long time living in fear, never knowing when they’re going to see their homes or loved ones again,” the green-haired kid states, his accent light and cultured, “the people of our town finally have a chance to lay aside the horrors of the past and uncertainties of the future, and simply focus on the now, and the life we’ve spent an entire year successfully rebuilding.”

For a very long, drawn out minute, Sora just stares down at Ferb, completely at a loss. For several reasons.

“Wow,” he finally says, leaning back on his bench thoughtfully.

“Yeah, my main man Ferb is a pretty deep guy,” Phineas says proudly, thumping his brother once on the back. The impact moves Ferb forward a few steps.

“Actually, I’m just kind of surprised he _can_ talk,” Sora corrects, still looking over the green-haired kid.

Phineas shrugs. “He just makes every word count.”

“There you are!” Telary exclaims, rounding the corner of a nearby building. He looks relieved to see Sora, and happy that Phineas and Ferb are here too. “Hi guys, it’s been a while. Where’s Perry?”

“He wanders off sometimes,” Phineas informs the wizard nonchalantly. “We never know where, but he always manages to come back. Besides, he’s a platypus, and they…”

“Don’t do much,” Telary finishes with a half-smile “I remember you told me that.”

Something at Phineas’s waist squawks at him, and he quickly reaches down and plucks a black walkie-talkie off his belt.

“What’s up, Isabella?”

“Hey Phineas, you and Ferb should get down here right away,” replies the sweet voice of a little girl, made scratchy and indistinct by transmission interference. “Love Hӓndel just got into a huge fight, and if things don’t get fixed soon…”

“We’re on it Isabella,” Phineas confirms, quickly returning the communications device to his belt. He looks apologetically up at Telary. “Sorry to take off so fast, but we’re needed. See you tonight at the ball!”

“Bye Phineas,” Telary says, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Sora flinched at the mention of the b-word. “Ferb.”

The F-shaped boy only stares.

When the boys are gone, Telary turns back to Sora. “Can I sit here?”

The Keybearer shrugs, gesturing vaguely next to him. “Whatever you want, Tel.”

The wizard ignores the uncharacteristic rudeness of the acquiescence and settles down next to his young friend.

“I’m _not_ going,” Sora repeats, adamant. Usually Telary only hears that tone right from him before a battle. It’s strange, how different situations warrant similar responses.

“Fine,” Telary concedes, shrugging. “If that’s your decision, I respect that. I’m sure Hollow Bastion will understand.”

Sora raises an eyebrow at his friend, spooked like a wild animal. “What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I just said.” The wizard links his fingers together behind his head, an imitation of Sora’s usual relaxation pose. “This party is supposed to represent rebuilding, and having hope again. These people wouldn’t have that hope without you. If it weren’t for what you did in that castle, and everything else you accomplished outside of it, they’d still be without a world.”

“I didn’t ask for that,” Sora shoots back, scowling.

“No, you didn’t,” Telary admits, sighing. “I hate seeing you like this, you know. It’s like you’re not you.” He closes his eyes, forces out the next sentence despite how much he wants to keep it inside. “You haven’t even asked how I’m feeling about Kairi. Normally you would’ve done that.”

Sora suddenly feels terrible, like Maleficent has just appeared and sent a ball of flame directly into his stomach. For a moment that terribleness shifts into sudden rage, but he fights it down. Telary has a point after all.

“You’re right,” Sora agrees, tears starting to prick at his eyes. He quickly wipes them away on the back of his glove. “I completely forgot about how this must be affecting you. I never even… Wow, Tel, I’m really sorry.”

The wizard only nods, amicable as ever. “I understand why you wouldn’t. I guess I’m just used to your heart being beyond my understanding.” He slumps back on the bench, sighs again. “But then again, _I_ never talked to Azlyn about it. I think she’s repressing something.”

“What?”

“Yuffie came in after you left-“

“That reminds me, I need to apologize to her too.”

“-and asked if she and I were going together to… the thing.” Telary rubs at his eyes, frowning. “Azlyn freaked out, said she didn’t want to be my date.”

Sora leans forward, looking searchingly into Telary’s face. “Did you _want_ her to be your date?”

“Yes.” Telary’s mouth snaps shut, surprised at how quickly and assuredly he’d answered. He hadn’t even needed to think about it. “I mean, uh, well friends have to be…”

“You know you think of Azlyn as more than just your friend,” Sora interrupts, rolling his eyes and batting playfully at the wizard’s shoulder. “I mean, I know it, and I’m pretty sure we could take a quick survey of everyone we’ve met in every world we’ve visited and _they’d_ know it too. The problem is, _she_ doesn’t know it.”

“It’s complicated!” Telary declares defensively, but he know that’s only a deflection. “Our relationship to one another has spent so long being one way that I’m not sure it could survive becoming another.” He grimaces. “And what if she’s not feeling things the way I am? If she doesn’t see me in a romantic way, then suddenly I make it clear that that’s how I see her, she could never trust me again.”

“I don’t really get that, I wasn’t worried about stuff like that with… With Kairi,” Sora admits with a shrug. He places one hand on his older friend’s shoulder, just as has been done to him many times. “But I know things are going to work out for you two. They have to.”

“Really?” Telary asks with a cocked eyebrow. “And how are you so sure about that?”

“Kairi said you two are meant for each other,” he replies, pushing against the anguish he stills feels at his love’s name. “And she’s _always_ right.”

“Well, I should get going,” Telary announces, standing up. “Have to get ready for the big night. I know you aren’t coming to the ball, but you should at least follow me to LeBlanc’s. We’re staying there.”

Sora rises as well, nodding thoughtfully. “If she’s one of the richest people in town, she’s gotta have an awesomely big house.”

“And all I had to do to get us in was agree to be her date tonight,” Telary says with a grimace. “So never let it be said I don’t make sacrifices for you.”

Sora gives his friend a smile. “I’d _never_ say that.” He reaches up to wrap an arm around Telary’s shoulder, and together they make their way down the street. “Wow, you and LeBlanc on a date. Maybe I have a reason to go to this thing after all.”

“Stranger things have happened,” Telary says playfully.

“Speaking of which, you’ll never guess what just happened. I heard Ferb talk.”

Telary’s jaw drops. “ _No_!”


	28. A Night to Remember

The room LeBlanc has generously provided to Azlyn is fairly large, with a canopy bed that reminds her of Belle’s, and its own small en suite. The water pressure isn’t anything to write home about, but that’s probably just another result of the power diversion. There’s also a full-length mirror, and at the moment Azlyn is examining herself in it.

Her hair is down, framing her face with ringlets and curls crafted by Aerith a few hours ago. Her entire look is actually a collaborative effort between pretty much every woman she knows in town, from Aerith’s hairstyling to Yuffie’s carefully application of makeup. And of course the dress, which LeBlanc had found after spending not two minutes in her vast closet. The wealthy woman had taken one look at Azlyn and declared it a perfect match.

She has to admit that it kind of is. There are two pieces to it: a tight, midnight blue top that leaves her midriff exposed, and a long skirt of the same color that swirls about her ankles. The top has only one sleeve, covering her left arm and shoulder in fabric before plunging down to skim the top of her breasts, leaving the right arm bare except for a matching armband circling her bicep. It seems like something LeBlanc would have worn as a teenager, elegant but with a touch of a risqué edge.

There’s a knock on the door, and suddenly she’s startled straight out of her thoughts. Frowning, she turns to the door.

“Who is it?” she calls

“It’s Sora.”

After giving herself one last check, she rushes over to open the door. She finds Sora standing there as promised, dressed in a perfectly fitting basic black and white three-piece suit that actually looks anything but basic on him. It’s not what she expected to see him wearing, but judging by the Keybearer’s expression her outfit is a surprise to him as well.

“What’s with the suit?” she asks, shifting her weight and putting a hand on her hip. Sora’s eyes drift down to follow it.

“Huh?” he snaps after a moment, shaking off his confusion and, truth be told, sheer _awe_.

Azlyn rolls her eyes, then steps aside and gestures for him to enter. He does, resolutely keeping his eyes forward until he has to turn to sit on the bed. Then it’s right back to the staring.

“Would you cut that out?” Azlyn barks at the boy, though she is very flattered that she can turn even his head. She closes the door and leans back against it, arms folded across her chest. “I thought you weren’t going tonight?”

The Keybearer shrugs. “I, uh, I changed my mind. Telary and I had a little talk and, well, I guess he just convinced me.”

The mention of Telary clouds Azlyn’s good mood. For a brief moment she’d been able to forget her situation, wrapped up in how good she looks, and how good that feels. Suddenly she can only wonder if _he’ll_ like the way she looks.

“So,” Sora says to break up the silence, “I take it that’s from LeBlanc?”

“Yeah.” Azlyn twirls around once with great aplomb, the skirt billowing out around her momentarily. Her spin complete, she once again cocks her hip out and places her hand there.

Sora swallows heavily before saying, his voice timid, “It looks really nice. And with, y’know, your hair being all long and, erm, doing that thing to your face…”

She sighs, striding back over to sit at the room’s vanity. She begins to fix what she sees as slight imperfections in her hair, more comfortable now talking to Sora’s reflection rather than the genuine article. As she settles in, she notices that his gaze did not move to follow her.

“You sure know how to make a girl feel special, Sora,” she jokes, hoping her usual teasing will inject reality back into this oddly surreal scenario.

“I’m sorry, Az,” the boy apologizes, slumping forward with a hand on his chin. “But you do look _really_ good tonight. It’s just that I, well…”

“There are times you forget I’m a girl, aren’t there?” Azlyn asks with a mocking edge, entirely playful. She can see a blush stain Sora’s cheeks before he answers.

“Being perfectly honest, yeah I do,” he admits, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. Then he suddenly composes himself, shifting around to face Azlyn’s mirror image with a mischievous grin. “But I’ll tell you something else. Telary never forgets.”

There’s that name again, like a thick smog poisoning a clean atmosphere. “Do you _have_ to bring that up, Sora?”

“I’m just saying,” the Keybearer says defensively, raising his hands and rising from the bed. Lowering his hands once again, he moves to stand by her side. Suddenly she can’t see his face in the mirror, so she scoots her chair back and actually looks up at him. “I don’t want this thing between the two of you to go on like it has. It was fine before, but it seems like it’s affecting the way you act with each other, and we can’t afford that. Not if we’re going to…”

When he pauses, “Rescue Kairi” is the finisher that springs to Azlyn’s mind, but she screws her mouth shut tight to contain it. It keeps the words in, but she’s going to have to reapply her lip gloss.

“…If we’re going to do what we have to,” he finishes on his own, closing his eyes briefly to block out painful thoughts. When they open again, they’re staring right down at Azlyn. “I know how you feel about him, and I know he feels the same about you.”

“He does?” Azlyn asks snappily, a sudden shiver overtaking her body at the thought her feelings could be returned.

Sora nods, turning to lean back against the wall. “Trust me, he does. But the thing is, he isn’t going to make the first move. You know he is, and when you add on the fact that he feels weird about being older…”

Azlyn’s hopeful look vanishes, replaced by a moody brow and accompanying frown. “I see. So, he still thinks of me as inferior, huh? Just a little kid sister he always has to keep on the right path?”

“No, Azlyn, of course not,” Sora fumblingly attempts to recover. “It’s just that, uh, he feels like he’d be…”

A hand, well-manicured with dark blue nails, suddenly snaps up and prompts Sora to shut his mouth so hard his teeth click together. “Nice try, but I think I’ve made the right move, keeping this secret from him.” She smooths a stray hair off her forehead, just for something to do. “Don’t worry, it’s just going to take a little while to get past this, and then things will be back to normal. We’ll all three be a team, and the mission can continue as before.”

“Aaargh!” Sora grumbles, pushing off the wall and stumbling back to the bed with his face in his hands. After a moment of composing himself, he looks back up at the knight. “But what if things could be even _better_? You two are my best friends, and if this is going to make you both happy…”

“It would,” Azlyn admits, rising from the vanity and bringing herself over to the bed. Sora slides to the side, and she sits beside him, their feet planted on the floor. “But if things went wrong, that’d only make things worse. You said it yourself, we need to be on our A-game. Organization XIII won’t go down against anything less.”

“Fine,” Sora sighs, shaking his head regretfully. “I’ll drop it, that’s okay.”

“Thanks.” Azlyn reaches over and places a friendly hand on the Keybearer’s shoulder. He turns his head so they’re looking in each other’s eyes. “You know, I didn’t mention this, but you look just as good in that suit as I do in this dress.”

His familiar smirk lights up Sora’s face. He shrugs, grabbing the lapels of his jacket and giving them a light tug. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Azlyn returns his smirk with her own. “So, we’re both dateless and perfectly matched in attractiveness. Why don’t we go to this thing together?”

Sora laughs, his eyes sparkling. “I don’t think that’s the worst idea you’ve ever had.”

“There have been a lot,” she admits with an agreeable chuckle. The mood is light again, and she finally feels the courage to reach up and stroke her hand against Sora’s cheek, unusually tender. Looking right in his eyes again, she solemnly declares, “You’re gonna find her again, Sora. _We’re_ gonna find her, and I pity the Nobody, Heartless, Pete, witch, or whatever else stands in our way.”

“Thanks, Azlyn.”

She shrugs. “Don’t mention it.”

**KH-KH-KH**

LeBlanc and Telary are already waiting in the foyer when Azlyn and Sora arrive, arms linked as they descend the curved staircase. LeBlanc’s dress is very similar to the one she wore that afternoon, except that it’s red and has no sleeves. Instead her forearms are covered in sparkling red gloves, ending in fabric triangles on the back of her hands and in her palms, linked between her middle and ring fingers.

Telary’s dressed in the same suit as Sora, but in Azlyn’s eyes the difference is night and day. Sora looks like he’s made a small concession to fashion for a school dance, but Telary looks like he’s prepared for a full night of breaking hearts about town. He apparently found the time to get a haircut, the sides shaved down, longer on the back but still cut close, with a prominent quiff atop his head.

At Azlyn’s side, Sora looks from one of his companions to the other, and it’s clear that both of them are damned near stupefied at the other’s appearance. He bites his tongue, but in the back of his head he begins forming a few plans.

“Oh, you both look _splendid_!” LeBlanc practically gushes, beaming proudly as if she’d created the pair in a laboratory. “Don’t they look amazing, Telary? _Especially_ Azlyn, my goodness. You’re taking that dress away with you, I could never wear it again without obsessing over how I pale in comparison.”

“Yes, she looks great,” Telary says with a smile, his voice rocking a bit but mostly remaining steady. His eyes are glued to Azlyn’s.

“You look nice yourself,” Azlyn returns with her own smile, though it’s strained at the edges. She gives the wizard a quick look up and down. “I even like the hair.”

“I insisted,” LeBlanc butts in before Telary can say anything. She looks at Sora with a slight frown. “Shame I couldn’t convince _you_ to do the same, my dear.”

The Keybearer shrugs, unaffected. “I like things just the way they are, ma’am,” he says, patting a spike affectionately.

A tall man steps through the front doorway, respectfully bowing his head to LeBlanc and her guests. “The carriage is here, Miss.”

“Well then, let us be off!” LeBlanc declares, grabbing Telary by the arm and scurrying for the door. She yanks the wizard as she goes, and he grimaces in pain.

The carriage is, surprisingly, nothing fancy, little more than a blue box with windows and doors. A short, rotund man sits in the driver’s seat, holding the reins of the horses that pull the cart. The group clamber inside, the dates facing each other across the seats. This happens to put Telary and Azlyn next to each other, and both make themselves as small as possible to avoid any accidental touching.

LeBlanc lives a few blocks east of the castle, almost pressed up against the wall against the cliff. As the carriage makes its way through town, the occupants watch as the townspeople walk together in groups. They all wear nice but simple outfits, mostly wool dresses for the women and girls, and button-up shirts with vests for the men and boys.

Members of the Guard Corp are seemingly stationed everywhere, their dark blue combat jumpsuits practically blending into the night.

“A side effect of the power grid diversion, I’m afraid,” LeBlanc answers the unspoken question. “Do you know that Mr. Leonhart tried to get out of attending the ball? He said he’d rather coordinate security, but I _insisted_ that he come.”

Sora grins, as somehow the image of Leon and LeBlanc in a fight seems like something he’d be interested in watching. The grin vanishes as he realizes just how close to the castle they are, enough that the structure truly feels looming now. The Keybearer steels himself, willing away the dark memories.

The garden in front of the castle is more beautiful than during the trio’s last visit, and being in a carriage instead of atop a mechanical canine means that they can appreciate it even more. White lights on poles stand beside the path, casting a cheery brightness over the well-kept grass and explosively colorful flower bushes.

They get to experience the garden little by little, as a rather thick line of people awaits entrance to through the castle gates. Truthfully the carriage seems a little impractical, but LeBlanc insisted and so here they are.

They finally reach the bottom of the castle steps, and one by one they debark. Sora gets out first and helps Azlyn down, despite how steady she has proven to be in her dark blue heels. Telary follows suit with LeBlanc, who doesn’t even seem to notice the six-inch spikes of her red boots.

They follow the throng up the stairs, small bulbs placed in the stone providing light. The bridge/courtyard has been fully restored, with more light poles keeping the darkness at bay. The volume of the crowd forces them to the edge, and Sora can’t help but spare a glance over the side and into the misty abyss below. He shudders a bit to think of the drop, but somehow it’s still more palatable than looking up at the fortress itself.

After what seems like ages, they enter the castle itself, stepping into the large entrance hall. Here Sora grips Azlyn’s arm a little tighter. This particular room doesn’t hold the _worst_ memories, Telary and Azlyn returning to his side after seemingly following Riku and Kairi restoring his heart with her heart of Light and a hug, but it calls to mind the others.

“It’s okay, Sora,” Azlyn whispers subtly to him. It’s so noisy in the hall that he knows no one else can hear her. “Just face the bad stuff, and tell it to get the hell back. And if you’re thinking of making a joke about my fake betrayal plan, _re_ think it.”

The levity brings a smile to Sora’s face as they begin to ascend the lefthand curved staircase. The small waterfall fountain bubbles below, clear water gushing from the gargoyle’s mouth.

The line for the platform across the Lift Stop shaft is long as well, and the quartet idly chat as they wait their turn. Actually Telary and Sora chat, Azlyn resolutely not looking at the wizard and LeBlanc tapping her foot with a frown.

When they finally reach the ballroom, Sora is blown away.

It’s so far removed from his idea of the rest of the castle that it almost seems as if they’ve entered an entirely different world. A long staircase leads down to a rounded landing with a balcony several people are leaning against, then two staircases curving down to the floor from either side. A deep burgundy carpet covers it all.

The white marble floor of the ballroom itself stretches on the length of two blitzball fields, almost triple the size of the one in Beast’s castle. A full orchestra is set up against the five tall windows in the back wall, next to an unoccupied stage with rock and roll instruments that are surely for Love Hӓndel’s upcoming performance. To the right is a field of almost two dozen circular tables with white tablecloths, each with a centerpiece full of flowers that must have just been freshly cut from the garden. A long buffet table sits against the wall, an assortment of food on three-fourths of it and crystal glasses atop the rest.

Most of the rest of the floor is filled with men and women dancing to the mid-tempo rhythm of the orchestra, and several clusters of much younger children can be seen moving haphazardly about as well, totally off-beat but not caring in the slightest.

Azlyn stiffens beside Sora. “Oh, wow, I _know_ I’ve been in here before. I obviously can’t remember anything specific, but…”

“I remember going to a dance,” Telary speaks up as they begin to descend the staircase. “Grandmother took Kairi and me, but she was too young to dance more than a wiggle. I wasn’t that old myself.”

“There used to be lavish parties all the time,” LeBlanc says with an agreeable nod. “Happier times certainly." She suddenly looks thoughtful, an odd expression on her. “I wonder if we’d have been so joyous if we’d known what Ansem was using the rest of the castle for. We were friends once, he and I.” Suddenly LeBlanc frowns. “At least, I think we were. Oh, damn these missing memories.”

Telary and Sora exchange worried looks, but by the time they finish their nonverbal conversation, the quartet has reached the floor and LeBlanc is once again her smiling, happy-go-lucky self.

“Whoa, looking good there party people!” exclaims the endlessly exuberant voice of Yuffie. She rushes over to the party, Leon following casually in her wake.

The ninja wears a simple black dress, stumpy heels, and a black headband with a white flower in it. She’s beaming even brighter than usual, completely caught up in the magic of the evening.

Leon is nowhere near as energetic as his escort, but he nevertheless looks about as happy as anyone has ever seen him. He’s still wearing his customary leather jacket and pants, but has switched out the usual white t-shirt for a button-up shirt. The gunblade is also nowhere to be found.

“Whoa, Az, you look amazing!” Yuffie declares, giggling as she looks the knight over approvingly. “Seriously, you better be careful, a guy could knock himself out just looking at that dress.” Her gaze moves over to the boys. “Not looking too bad yourselves, gentlemen.”

They all thank her, then Azlyn turns to Leon with a grin. “So, I hear you tried to wriggle your way out of this?”

The man shrugs, and that’s apparently all he has to not-say about the subject.

“Speaking of wriggling,” LeBlanc chimes in, casting her gaze all around, “I don’t suppose dear Ciddy Widdy is lurking about anywhere.”

“Crazy old coot practically locked himself up in the power grid’s control room,” Yuffie answers with an eye roll. “Said the situation there needed his constant monitoring. That’s probably a load of crap, but whatever.”

“Where’s Aerith?” Azlyn interjected, wanting to thank the young woman once again for fixing her hair.

“Right here.”

Aerith stands before the group in a pink dress, a long ponytail flowing behind her back with a pink ribbon tied up in it. A man stands beside her, startling the heroic trio.

“Cloud?” Sora exclaims, truly taken aback to see the man he’d fought twice in the games at Olympus Coliseum standing before him in Hollow Bastion.

“Don’t tell me you come from this world too?” Azlyn asks. The blond warrior is still handsome and buff as ever, especially dressed in a black shirt and pants with a white blazer, but somehow whatever made her so hot for him last year seems nonexistent. She must love Telary even more than she thought.

“I do,” Cloud replies, sounding grim despite the gaiety surrounding him. His scowl is even more pronounced than Leon’s, something no one present had thought possible. “In your travels, have you ever ran into a silver-haired man wielding a long sword?”

The suddenness and oddity of that question really throws Sora for a loop, but eventually he manages to answer that no, he hasn’t.

“His name is Sephiroth,” Cloud provides, suddenly becoming gloomier than ever. It almost feels like the temperature of the entire ballroom has made a sudden, significant drop. “I have a score to settle with him.”

“Couldn’t you put that aside for just one night?” Aerith admonishes her date with a deep frown. “Tonight is supposed to be about letting go and having fun.”

Cloud’s scowl ticks things down another degree. “I’ll have fun when Sephiroth and I’s business is settled.” Then he walks away, and after a quick apology Aerith follows him.

“Wow,” Yuffie says disdainfully, looking up at Leon. “And here I thought _I_ brought the grumpiest date of the night.” She grabs the older man’s hand, taking it only due to the element of surprise. “Speaking of, c’mon and dance.”

Leon yank his hand away. “There are no circumstances under which I am going to do that.”

“Well, then I suppose that just leaves more room for _us_!” LeBlanc declares, grabbing Telary by the bicep and pulling him over to the dance floor. After taking a moment to adjust, the pair begin a jig to the fast music.

Seeing them moving together lights a small, angry fire in Azlyn, and she quickly turns to Sora, one hand held out commandingly. “Let’s go.”

Sora stares at the hand for a long few seconds, then looks up at his date with a grin. “You sure can make a guy feel special.”

She rolls her eyes and he takes the offered hand. For the next twenty minutes they dance together, whirling about the floor with a surprising amount of expertise. The knight knows she’s a good dancer, she has the medals to back that opinion up, but she’s surprised by how well Sora can keep up. She begins to suspect that there might have been a few lessons in his past. Some other couples even stop to watch.

LeBlanc and Telary aren’t hardly as coordinated as the others, and there are a few times the wizard’s feet receive a spike heel to the center, but he manages to ignore them. Mostly because he’s always watching Azlyn out of the corner of his eye.

It isn’t too long before all the fancy footwork and fast-paced twirling tires them out, and the quartet converge at the edge of the dance floor before finding their own table near the dance floor’s edge. Every table is paired with ten chairs, so they have ample space and privacy.

“I think I need a drink,” Sora announces, though the statement is unaccompanied by any apparent movement. If anything, he slouches deeper into the chair.

“I’ll handle that,” Azlyn says confidently, rolling her eyes at the lazy bum that is her date. “Lightweight amateur.”

“I could use a little refreshment as well, Telary,” LeBlanc chimes suddenly, and of course the gentlemanly wizard complies. After he’s halfway to the drinks section of the buffet, the wealthy woman turns to Sora with an intense gaze. “All right, we simply _have_ to do something to get those two together.”

Sora sits up, leaning over the table. “Good, I was hoping you’d notice. And you’re right, we need a plan.”

LeBlanc thinks for a moment, scratching her chin as her eyes wander back and forth, as if she’s reading something floating above her head. Within seconds, her eyes brighten and she stands, grinning devilishly down at the Keybearer.

“I think I have something,” she declares. That’s all Sora gets before she walks away, passing Telary and plucking a small flute of yellow liquid out of his hand.

“Uh, where’s she going?” the wizard asks, setting down his own drink before turning around. In the distance, LeBlanc is approaching the bandstand. She seems to have picked up a young woman on her way there.

“Beats me,” Sora replies just as Azlyn arrives back herself, somehow managing to carry five drinks at once. “Uh, think you have enough there, Az?”

The knight glares at him and shrugs. “I took a taste, and I think this is champagne. I’ve had it at some Disney Castle events. Tastes alright, but there’s so little actual alcohol in it that it takes like ten to even get _buzzed_.”

“Azlyn!” Telary declares, scandalized. “I know you saw ‘Mallard Without A Care’ growing up, we all did.”

“‘Mallard Without A Care’?” Sora repeats, a little disbelievingly.

“Some dumb play we had to watch when we got outta grade school,” Azlyn replies, her tone clearly indicating her disdain for the production. “It’s about Tony Mallard, this dumb kid who plays it fast and loose with alcohol and smoking and ends up a penniless baster.”

“Penniless _wastrel_ , Azlyn,” Telary corrects.

For a long moment the pair just glare at each other. It’s so prototypically _Azlyn and Telary_ that a spark of hope ignites in the Keybearer’s heart. Perhaps they really _can_ remain the team they used to be.

Then the awkwardness returns, and the Disney Castle pair turn away from each other. Luckily, it only lasts a moment before LeBlanc speaks into the microphone on the stage.

“Hello everyone, I’m hoping you are all having a wonderful time at the 1st Annual Hollow Bastion Restoration Dance,” the wealthy woman says, and a small smattering of applause raises up in reply. She smiles and nods, preening before her public. “Thank you, thank you. Now, I know we’ve all been thoroughly enjoying the music provided by our very own Hollow Bastion Philharmonic-,” more applause, and a few grateful nods from the orchestra, “-but I think now is the time to bring things down a bit.”

She gestures to the young woman behind her, dressed in a black dress with a white cardigan. “To that end, I’ve enlisted the services of this lovely girl, Faye, to sing an old classic, bring things down a bit for the couples among us. And so, without further ado, I present to you ‘Eyes On Me’. Thank you all very much.”

The orchestra strikes up as LeBlanc quickly makes her way offstage and Faye steps to the microphone. It’s a sweeping opening, various string instruments setting the stage for an intimate dance.

“Come along, Telary,” LeBlanc practically orders, once again grabbing Telary and pulling him to the dance floor as Faye begins to sing. Before they’re completely gone she gives Sora a conspiratorial wink.

“ _Whenever I sang my songs, on the stage, on my own…”_ she croons, her voice light and sweet. “ _Whenever I said my words, wishing they would be heard…_ ”

The Keybearer bolts up from his seat, startling the in-mid-drink Azlyn. He quickly holds out his hand to her. “C’mon, we’ve gotta dance too. Let’s go.”

The knight slowly lowers her glass back to the table. There’s something skeptical in her face, but she stands and allow Sora to take her to the floor anyway.

As Faye sings of a hotel bar singer and the patron she has fallen for but never told of her love, Azlyn and Telary each begin to draw the connection to their situations. Telary can barely keep his eyes off the knight, only barely paying attention to his actual partner.

Azlyn steals glances at Telary herself, her feelings rising up in her heart every time. But she also can’t help but turn to Sora, seeing the dreaminess and love in his own eyes. She knows it isn’t for her at all, but rather Kairi. Still, if it makes her friend happy to think of his own love instead of the girl he’s with, she doesn’t mind.

“ _Darling so there you are,_ ” Faye continues, her voice full of the longing of the songwriter, “ _with that look on your face. As if you’re never hurt, as if you’re never down. Shall I be the one for you, who pinches you softly but sure? If frown is shown then, I will know that you are no dreamer._ ”

As the chorus ends, Faye steps back as the orchestra takes over the interlude, a flute lifting above the rest of the instruments almost mournfully. That’s when Sora and Azlyn twirl past Telary and LeBlanc, and the Keybearer catches the slight sparkle in her eye.

Simultaneously, as if it had been carefully planned for months, Sora and LeBlanc let go of their partners, giving them a slight push together.

Azlyn and Telary collide awkwardly, bumping against each other and flinching back. They turn to look for their dates, but suddenly notice that both of them have gone.

“Uh, well…” Telary says with a nervous gulp.

“So…” Azlyn mutters, looking away and awkwardly tapping her fists together. In the background, the flute begins to build back up. For some reason the sound of it gives Azlyn courage, and she holds up a hand. “Telary?”

The wizard purses his lips, takes another heavy swallow. “Yes, Azlyn?”

She reaches out to decisively grab his hand just as Faye steps back up to the microphone. “How about we dance.”

Telary suddenly relaxes, a smile breaking through his awkward pall to light up his whole being. He nods once, then takes his counterpart’s hand. “Let’s.”

“ _So let me come to you, close as I wanna be… Close enough for me to feel your heart beating fast._

_“I kind of liked it your way, how you shyly placed your eyes on me. Did you ever know that I had mine on you?”_

They dance through the next verse, holding each other and confidently maneuvering about the floor with coordination that puts Azlyn’s early dance with Sora to absolute shame. It feels completely right, and suddenly they both wonder how in the wide universe they had _ever_ thought that this wouldn’t be so easy? How stupid were they to let fear of change stop something that is simply meant to be?

“ _Darling so there you are,_ ” Faye belts the last chorus as couples all around the floor whirl and twirl with one another, none of them shining half as bright as Azlyn and Telary, “ _with that look on your face, as if you’re never hurt. As if you’re never down. Shall I be the one for you, who pinches softly but sure? If frown is shown then, I will know that you are no dreamer._ ”

The music comes to an end and Azlyn and Telary slow their movements, now simply holding each other close in the middle of the dance floor. People all around them are clapping for Faye’s performance, wolf whistles and cheers rising up as well, but they hear practically nothing of it.

“Hey, Azlyn,” Telary says softly. Her head is against his chest, and she can feel the vibration of every syllable.

“Yeah?” She pulls back and looks up to find him looking down at her. His eyes are soft and kind, full of a similar love Azlyn had seen in Sora for Kairi earlier. But Kairi wasn’t there, just a figment of memories and the heart. She’s here, wrapped up in the arms of the man she loves.

How could she not seize such a great love, when it’s literally staring her in the face?

“Let’s go somewhere,” he says simply, taking his lower lip between his teeth. “Let’s go to the library.”

She nods. “Sure, Telary, of course.”

He takes her hand, and leads the way out of the ballroom.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora watches his friends from their table near the dance floor, sighing wistfully as they go hand and hand up the grand staircase.

He’s happy for them, of course he is, but the feelings stirred up by dancing with Azlyn had been so intense he’d completely lost track of reality. Kairi had appeared before him, as if in one of the visions he’d seen of her while her heart rested in his.

The thought overwhelms him again, and in desperation he reaches for the nearby champagne flute and tips it back, taking the whole glass in a single gulp. Then, with reckless abandon that would make even Tony Mallard pause, he does the same with Telary and Azlyn’s abandoned glasses.

It tastes clear as it slides down his throat, but he can hardly tell there’s any alcohol in the concoction. Recalling what Azlyn had said about needing a lot of the stuff to get a buzz, he stands and makes his way to the drink table.

Immediately upon reaching it he takes another flute in his fist, downing it, once again, with but a gulp. He’s just reaching for the next one when he hears the voices.

“This is a total bust,” says one voice, sounding chipper and energetic but also perturbed. “Nobody even _brought_ anything!”

Sora freezes instantly, wondering if he just happens to have an insanely low alcohol tolerance. He must, if he’s hearing voices after just a few glasses.

“This is a reconnaissance mission, remember,” says another voice, this one sweet and airy. “We’re here for information, not treasure.”

“Why can’t we get both?” questions a third voice, this one deeper, more intense. “There’s gotta be _something_ worth taking at this party.”

By now, Sora has realized that he most likely isn’t hallucinating, as the three voices are clearly coming from under the table. Without even checking to make sure nobody looks and ends up thinking he’s actually crazy, he lifts up the tablecloth and peers underneath.

All three voices rise up in a sudden gasp as Sora sticks his face under the table. Hovering in the air there are three young woman no more than a foot tall. One’s dressed in orange, one an all-black leather outfit that wouldn’t look out of place on a girl version of Leon, and the third in a flowery blouse and blue half-skirt.

For a long moment they just stare at each other, trading shocked look for shocked look. Finally, the leather one grunts and rushes forward to grab Sora’s ear, pulling the Keybearer along under the table. The one in orange flips the tablecloth back down like a curtain.

“Uh, what’s going on here?” Sora demands, though quietly. Something about being underneath a table just makes him want to whisper.

“What did you hear?” demands the girl in orange, thrusting a tiny finger forward. “Talk, bucko!”

“Hold on Rikku, hold on,” says the skirt-girl, moving in between Sora and her interrogative friend. Sora gasps at the name, but quickly quashes his emotions but assuring himself there’s no connection between his missing friend and this miniature lady. “I recognize him from the newspapers. This is Sora, the great Keybearer!”

“Oooh!” Rikku practically coos, increasing her altitude and looking the boy over.

“So what, Yuna?” the mini-girl-Leon deadpans, her arms crossed.

“ _So_ , Paine, that means he’s in with Leon’s group,” the obvious leader chides her darkly attired companion. She smiles at Sora, and the brightness is equivalent to at least several watts. “Do you know anything about their plans? We need something to report back to our leader.”

“Your _leader_?” Sora asks incredulously, his voice still at a whisper. Has he stumbled upon some sort of tiny gang? It seems likely, if they’re discussing stealing. Struck with a sudden thought, he purses his lips at the tiny women. “Do any of you know a pixie named Tinker Bell?”

“Can’t say I do,” Yuna answers. Behind her, the others shake their heads. “We’re treasure hunters, you know. By trade, at least. Right now we’re doing a little freelance reconnaissance work.”

“Yeah,” Rikku chimes in. “We’re trying to find out _all_ about Leon and his group’s little plans, which we’ll then report to Mal…”

Paine reaches out and slaps a hand over her enthusiastic coworker’s mouth. “Pay no attention to her. I know _I_ don’t.”

A sudden loud _clack_ of heels on marble sounds just outside the tablecloth, and moments later LeBlanc’s voice can be heard.

“Sora,” she says as the overhanging cloth lifts up to allow her to see underneath, “I’m excited about our plan working too, but people are beginning to talk… AAAAGH!”

LeBlanc’s shriek is met by corresponding cries from the treasure hunters, all four screeches echoing around the small space and giving Sora a sudden major headache.

“Sora, what are you doing with these _wretched_ little mongrels?” LeBlanc demands, glaring intensely at the trio.

“Who are you calling wretched, you old _hag_!” Rikku spits back spiritedly, alighting out from underneath the table to get in LeBlanc’s face. Her tiny compatriots follow after her, and Sora scrambles out as well.

“I’m not much older than you, you tiny little nitwit!” LeBlanc shoots back, her eyes rapidly moving from one tiny lady to the next. “Though I could see why you’d be confused, considering how much _taller_ I am!”

“Hey, we only got this way because of that dumb trap _you_ set!” Paine roars with an accusing finger.

“I only _set_ that trap because you three wouldn’t stop invading my home like the little thieves you are!”

“ _Treasure hunters_!” Yuna yells, her calm demeanor breaking. By now, almost everyone is staring at the scene. “You know what, I don’t have to take this.”

There’s a quick flash of light around the girl, and when it fades she’s disappeared. Rikku and Paine quickly follow suit, the latter giving LeBlanc one last huff before she goes.

“What was that about?” Sora demands once the little ladies are gone. “How did you make them small?”

“They call themselves the Gullwings,” LeBlanc says with obvious disdain. “They also call themselves treasure hunters, but they’re nothing more than sneaky little thieves. A few months ago they attempted to break into my mansion and steal my valuables. Ormi was able to chase them away before they finished, but I knew they’d be back! So, I went to Merlin for a little mystical trap. Well, apparently it worked too well, because the shrink spell was supposed to only last a day, and they’ve never regained their proper size. Though how they learned to fly, or that disappearing trick, I don’t know.”

“They said they were working for someone, doing ‘reconnaissance’.” Sora has no idea what that word means, but it sounds slightly shady.

“So now they’re spies as well as thieves, hm?” LeBlanc huffs. “Well, keep an eye out for them, Sora. They’re trouble, I can assure you.”

She grabs another champagne glass and walks away. Sora remains in the middle of several stares from townsfolk, and he tries his best to ignore them as he reaches for another drink.

He stills his hand about halfway there, going over the last minute’s incident again in his head. Suddenly he draws his hand back. His life is odd and confusing enough without adding intoxication into the mix.

“This one’s for you, Tony,” the Keybearer mutters to himself.

**KH-KH-KH**

The Hollow Bastion library remains unchanged, overlooked by the construction crews as they focused all efforts on the ballroom and entrance hall. But that isn’t a bad thing, as the dusty old archive hardly seems to have suffered.

Azlyn and Telary, still holding hands, make their way through the mazelike shelves, unfazed by the twists and turns, completely confident of where they’re going.

They emerge from the shelves to the clear space around the curved staircase. Through the huge picture window there, the lights of the town’s eastern district can be seen, LeBlanc’s mansion most prominent of all the buildings.. The pair doesn’t stop, taking in the sight briefly as they walk up the stairs.

On the upper level, overlooking the shelves and books below, they head for the back wall, where a very special bookcase awaits. Telary pulls out the proper volume, and the shelf slides away to reveal a secret passage. Cool air flows through it and washes over the pair.

The passage leads to small ovular balcony, surrounded by brass railings except for a little section at its edge. A crystal softly glows orange there, but the lift platform it summons is on the upper level.

Azlyn and Telary venture to lean over the railing. The land beneath the gaze of the castle’s southern face hasn’t been developed, all rough blue stone until it reaches the wall. The pair can see the horizon over it, nothing but starry skies above that line.

“It’s beautiful,” Azlyn says, in a rare display of appreciation for natural wonder. “This whole world really has come a long way. I remember all the Heartless we had to fight in this castle last year. Now we’re dancing in it.” She sighs. “Things sure can change.”

“Yeah,” Telary agrees, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. She looks over at him with a smile. “We’ve changed too, huh?”

“I guess,” she allows, playing idly with a blonde ringlet. “My hair sure got a lot longer.”

Telary smiles at her, removing his hand from her should and placing it instead over her hand, resting them lightly together on the balcony. He’s still looking into her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant,” he says. “I mean, things have changed _between_ us. My… My feelings for you have changed.”

“I agree,” she says, taking a step closer. “So have mine. I used to think you just existed to annoy me, boss me around and tell me what to do. Now I realize how much you’ve helped me, kept me from going too far.”

“I love that you go too far,” he says, taking his own step. “I _need_ you to go too far sometimes, or I’d never go anywhere at all. If it weren’t for you, I never would have gotten on that Gummi ship. I know I usually say that as a recrimination, but not this time. It was a _gift_ you gave me Azlyn. You opened up the universe to me, encouraged me to go out into it.”

Azlyn shakes her head bemusedly. “Without you, _I’d_ never have gotten on that Gummi ship. You told me to follow my heart, chase my dreams. I believed in what you said to me, because I knew that you were the smartest guy in the universe. I still believe that.”

“Wow,” Telary says with a breathless laugh. “I guess we really do need each other.”

“Of course I need you, Tel,” Azlyn says, as serious as she’s ever been. “I love you, Telary.”

Hearing the words said aloud takes the redhead wizard aback, but the searching look in his counterpart’s eyes reminds him that he’s got his own line here. That’s exactly what this moment feels like, a beautiful script written long ago that just _had_ to come to life.

“I need you too,” he says, gripping her hand ever so slightly tighter. “I love you too, Azlyn. I have for a long time, whether I really knew it or not.”

Her smile is so radiant that Telary would swear it can be seen from orbit. Both of them can’t help but unleash their widest grins, overjoyed at dreams coming true.

“It’s pretty funny, y’know,” Telary chuckles, gesturing all around him. “That we’d end up doing this here. Y’know, our home.”

She shakes her head, slipping her hand out from under his and instead cupping it against his cheek. “Telary,” she says, staring into his eyes and leaning closer, “I have traveled all the way around this universe. But I’ve _never_ left my home.”

She surges upward for a passionate kiss, their lips slotting together as if they were made for each other. It’s as perfect as both of them had imagined.

They continue on for minutes, pulling away only for air before diving back into one another, eager to explore every angle at which their lips can meet.

Eventually, Telary forces himself to really pull back. “I could do this forever, Azlyn, I really could,” he says, stuttering not from nerves but instead the incredible high of the girl he loves. “But we should be getting back to the party.”

“I agree,” Azlyn says easily, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back to the secret passage. “But we’re not going back just yet.”

“No?” Telary blurts, confused. “So then, what are we doing?”

“C’mon, Tel, you know how much you love libraries,” she says, a hint of sultry deviousness in her eyes.

“Um, yeah I do.”

“Well…” She pulls him in for another kiss, this one hotter. Her tongue slots into his mouth for the briefest of moments before pulling back out. “I think you’re about to love this particular one a _whole_ lot more.”

**KH-KH-KH**

They don’t get back to the ballroom for another half hour, and despite his best efforts Telary is still nervous everyone can see how rumpled his clothes are, and therefore deduce how they got that way.

“Would you quit worrying?” Azlyn says, slightly annoyed despite everything that’s just happened. “You were the one who said we _had_ to tell Sora and LeBlanc we’re leaving.”

“We came together,” Telary stresses, ignoring Azlyn’s smirk at the phrasing. “Ha ha. Anyway, it’s our responsibility to let them know where we’re going so they don’t worry.”

Azlyn rolls her eyes, and is about to reply when Phineas’s voice erupts from the microphone. He’s on stage with Ferb, a girl in a red dress that must be their sister, and the three members of Love Hӓndel.

“Hi, everybody,” he greets the room. “I know you’re all having such a great time, but I just wanted to let you know that today is the anniversary of my parents.”

A spotlight shines into the crowd, centering on a middle-aged amen and woman. The woman looks like Phineas, red hair and all, and the man is obviously Ferb’s progenitor, though his hair is brown rather than green. They hold each other happily.

“Anyway, to celebrate, me, Ferb, and Candace reunited their favorite band.” He gestures behind himself. “You all may remember a little group called Love Hӓndel? I don’t they’re a little before my time.”

The eruption of applause in the audience is a clear indicator that most of them do in fact remember Love Hӓndel.

“LOVE HANDLE!” the easily identifiable voice of LeBlanc screeches. “I LOVE LOVE HӒNDEL!”

“Well, here they are!” Phineas announces. “Okay, guys, take it away.”

The guys do in fact take it away, guitars and drums blending into a soft rock intro. The lead singer, dressed in a purple jumpsuit, steps to the microphone as he strums his guitar.

“ _I should have known, from how I felt when we were together_ ,” he croons, “ _and even more when we were apart! You tip-toed in, and you got under my skin. You snuck your way right into my heaaaaart!”_

“Wow,” Telary mutters to his partner, now in every sense of the word. “This is, like, eerily fitting.”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees with an amused chuckle. She holds out her hand. “Which is why I don’t think we should pass up this one last dance.”

Below the wordless melody plays, Lawrence and Linda Flynn-Fletcher reaffirm their love, and Yuffie finally coaxes Leon into a single dance.

But none of that matters to Azlyn and Telary, who sway together on the landing in a dance of their own.

“ _I put up barriers, to shield my emotions, a wall that you could never break apart! But like a ninja of love, repelling down from above, you snuck your way right into my heart._

C’mon everybody, let me hear ya!”

The crowd breaks out into nearly a full minute of “ _Na na_ ”s, the lead singer belts out one last “ _You snuck your way right into my heart_!”, and then drums and guitar crash together in an incredible, all-encompassing crescendo of sound.

With the sound of hard rock in the background, Azlyn pulls Telary down into one last passion-filled kiss.

“Goodnight Hollow Bastion!”

The crowd below (particularly LeBlanc) roars for the band, and above the noise Azlyn and Telary break apart.

“You know what?” Telary says. “Sora’s smart, he’ll figure out that we left.”

Goodnight Hollow Bastion indeed.


	29. The Morning After

Sora races down the long hall of LeBlanc’s east wing, headed in a frantic beeline for Telary’s room. He’d taken off as soon as Aerith, who had arrived bright and early at the mansion’s front door, had finished relaying her message: The king is here!

There’d been some other stuff as well, about a discovery in the castle, but that part Sora had largely ignored in favor of the big news. King Mickey was the last man (or mouse) to have seen Riku, and might just be the only reliable lead on the silver-haired young man’s location. With that in mind, there’s no time to waste.

The sad side effect of his haste is its adverse effect on his memory, which is why he shows no mercy in energetically pounding on the wizard’s door. He thinks he hears a screech, a high-pitched and frightened noise, but assumes his vigor has simply disturbed the door’s hinges into squeaking.

“C’mon Telary!” Sora calls through the door, still banging away. “We’ve got to get moving, and you’re the only one who can get Azlyn up!”

He finally stops his knocking, just in time to catch the tail end of a hearty laugh, followed by a muffled _thump_.

Finally Telary opens the door, wrapped in a ridiculous floral robe that LeBlanc must have thrown in with the room. It’s clearly all he’s wearing, but Sora isn’t the kind to shy away. In fact, he gives the redhead a good once over. His hair is a mess, and there are fading marks on his chest.

“Uh, what’s up with you?” Sora asks, leaning back and folding his arms. He feels like there’s something he’s missing, only just barely obscured by the leftover effects of last night’s near-binge on champagne. But what? “Was there, did you forget to heal yourself after the last battle?”

Telary follow’s Sora’s eyes down, grimacing when he sees the marks on his chest. They’re still a bit red, but in seconds his face overtakes them in coloration.

“Uh, yeah, I guess I just missed these,” he says, biting his lip and pulling the robe closed a little tighter. “Uh, anyway… What’s so urgent?”

Elation fills Sora once again, and it’s enough for him to ignore his companion’s strange behavior.

“Aerith came by, said Leon wants to see us,” he explains, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “And it gets even better… The king’s here!”

Telary’s mouth opens in shock, but it’s not his voice that cries out into the hall.

“The king!” Azlyn declares, her head popping up from the other side of Telary’s bed. Her hair is wildly mussed, surrounding her face and head like a storm cloud.

Telary’s grimace becomes even more pronounced, and with a sigh he lets the door swing open. Sora takes in the room fully for the first time, and it’s a mess. He can even see a shattered lamp, lying on the ground in a hundred pieces.

He finally rests his gaze on Azlyn’s head, and suddenly his thought process clicks into the proper gear for remembering. His grin turns less gleeful and more scandalized, raising a single eyebrow at Telary, who looks like he wants nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up.

“Hey, Azlyn,” he says, turning away from the embarrassed Telary. The knight, by contrast, looks positively pleased about the events transpiring. “I see getting you up won’t be a problem.”

She waggles her eyebrows at him, mock-suggestively. “We’ll be down in a few minutes, Sora.”

He nods once to her, then gives Telary a similar one. The wizard is massaging his temples furiously.

“See you there, guys.”

As soon as the door closes, Azlyn stands up, revealing her already half-dressed body. Telary stays almost completely still, his only motion the slow rubbing of his temples.

“C’mon, you can’t just stand around all day!” Azlyn barks, almost like an order. This at least has the effect of getting her counterpart to look over to her. “You heard what Sora said, the king’s here!”

“Exactly!” Telary exclaims, shaking his head and stumbling over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Azlyn quirks an eyebrow at him, rapidly zipping up her jacket before moving to sit beside him. “Why are you freaking out like this? We’ve been looking for the king for a long time, and finally he shows up.”

“That’s what I mean,” Telary practically whines, head in his hands. “Of course he’d choose _now_ to show up!”

“I ask again,” Azlyn says, exasperated. “What are you having such a fit about?”

Telary finally looks at her, his face a rictus of panic. “He showed up now because of… Because he knows!”

“Knows what?”

“What we did last night!” Telary finishes, springing to his feet and rolling his eyes like this should be obvious.

For a long moment it’s a staring contest between the pair, Azlyn paused halfway into pulling a ponytail together.

“Look, Tel, I love you,” the knight begins, internally savoring that she can so easily say such a thing out loud, to his face, “but you are being way paranoid. There’s no way the king could know about us.”

“He always knows, Azlyn!” Telary exclaims, slumping back onto the bed. “Remember when we broke that one hundred year old vase, then tried to blame Pluto? He knew all about that!”

Azlyn rolls her eyes again before taking her friend (Boyfriend? They’re going to have to have a more in-depth talk about titles later) by the hand.

“That’s because we were, like, seven and nine,” she assures him, adding in a kiss on the cheek for good measure. “And you practically passed out when he asked you to confirm the story I’d told him. That didn’t exactly take a genius to figure out. This is way different. And besides, I think he’ll be happy for us.”

Telary gives her a look.

She shrugs. “I mean about being together.” Suddenly hit by doubt, she looks back at him, nervousness crinkling the corners of her eyes. “We are, y’know, _together_ , right?”

The wizard’s expression softens, and he pulls her in for another kiss. It lasts a few seconds, and then he pulls back with a kind smile. “Of course we’re together, Azlyn. Even if we could go back, I wouldn’t want to. I love you too much for that.”

This time she surges forward to kiss him, and Telary has to quickly fling his arms out to keep them from falling back into the bed. If that happens, there’s no way they’ll be able to keep their ‘in a few minutes’ promise to Sora.

They break off after another few seconds, and he stands and makes his way over to his clothes. Well, some of them. They hadn’t spent too much time organizing things like that last night.

As he goes, the broken lamp catches his eye. “Yeah, we owe LeBlanc for a new one of those.”

Azlyn chuckles. “Munny well spent, I’d say.”

**KH-KH-KH**

It really doesn’t take _too_ long for Azlyn and Telary to arrive downstairs, but by the time they do Sora is ready to burst. The pair exchange pleasantries with Aerith, and then they’re off.

“So,” Sora says to Aerith on their way to the castle, going for as nonchalant a manner as possible, “did you happen to see if Riku was with the king too?”

Aerith wastes no time at all in giving the Keybearer a sympathetic frown and shake of her head. “I’m sorry, Sora, but if he was I didn’t hear of it. Actually, I didn’t really get to see the king either. He and Leon apparently went right to their big new discovery.”

“What discovery is that?” Telary asks curiously. He and Azlyn walk side-by-side, hands interlocked.

“I’m afraid I wasn’t told that, either,” she says with a shrug. “Only Leon, Quistis, Cid, and the king know what exactly they’ve found. All I know is that Cid found something odd when we reactivated full power in the castle for last night’s ball. Some sort of circuit running to an area of the castle we couldn’t find a proper map for.”

Telary voices a speculation, but Sora hardly hears it. The news that Riku might not be with the king had hurt him, but the boy is trying his hardest not to let it get him down. He’s still feeling plenty of shame over his actions yesterday, and isn’t eager to repeat any of it.

Once they’re in the castle Aerith leads them to the library (not noticing how just entering the room makes Telary blush), stopping in front of an ordinary looking bookcase propped against the back wall. Reaching out, she plucks two red volumes from a high shelf, then flips their positions when she puts them back in.

Suddenly the bookcase swings aside, revealing yet another hidden outside balcony. Apparently Hollow Bastion’s castle is full of far more secrets than anyone has realized.

“The cleaning crew discovered this passage last night,” Aerith explains, gesturing to the alcove. “They were only going to give the room a cursory inspection, but for some reason they found it was kind of a mess.”

Azlyn and Telary exchange a brief look, but say nothing. Luckily, no one notices that either.

“Then when they were fixing this shelf they saw the volumes were out of order,” the pink-ribboned woman continues. “They put them back together correctly, and then they discovered this. Leon came over right away, and Cid went with because of the grid anomaly.”

“Did Leon call the king?” Telary asks.

Aerith shakes her head again. “No, that’s what struck me as sort of odd. It was as if…”

“He just knew,” Telary finishes, giving Azlyn a knowing look. The knight scoffs and rolls her eyes in reply.

“Anyway, Leon’s waiting for you,” Aerith says. “Quistis should be waiting at the end of the ride to show you the rest of the way. Last night’s festivities put some strain on the power plant, and I have to go oversee some minor repairs and things. Well, technically Yuffie is in charge, but we’ve found that it’s a good idea to have someone overseeing her as well.”

After saying their goodbyes, the trio head out onto the balcony. It’s no different from the one on the upper level, except that any view is obscured by a thick smog.

“That must be how they kept it hidden,” Telary posits, one hand in front of his mouth to keep out the smoke. With the other he taps the orange crystal at the edge of the platform.

The elevator arrives quickly, and everyone piles in.

“So,” Sora says, leaning against the side of the cage with his arms folded, “are you two, like, officially together, or…?”

“Yes, we are,” Telary answers, nodding. “I know that this doesn’t seem like the best time, what with everything with you and Kairi, but…”

Sora flings himself forward wrapping both arms around his companions. “Oh man, I am _so_ happy for you guys! This is great, I’ve been waiting for this!”

“Really?” Telary says as the Keybearer pulls back away, still smiling like a loon. “Good, that’s great to hear, Sora.”

“Especially after yesterday,” Azlyn chimes in bluntly. “I’ve never seen you be all stupidly mopey like that Sora. Ever.”

Sora nods once, smiling a little sheepishly. “You’re right, Azlyn. I shouldn’t have let myself get down like that, it doesn’t do anybody any good. Staying positive helped me help my friends last year, and it’s going to do the same thing this time!”

“Good for you Sora!” Telary says encouragingly, adding in a friendly punch to the younger boy’s shoulder.

“But, in the future,” Sora continues, grimacing a little, “I’d like a heads up before I get hit in the face with the two of you, y’know…”

“Totally reasonable,” Telary says agreeably.

Azlyn shrugs. “You didn’t even see anything. And, honestly, I’m surprised that last night you didn’t _hear_ anything. I mean, we were _really_ …”

“Hi Quistis!” Telary calls out as the elevator comes to a stop.

The defense commander cocks her head at arriving trio, wondering particularly about why Sora has his fingers in his ears.

“Hello,” she greets, smiling as they disembark.

“We didn’t see you at the ball last night,” the Keybearer points out, removing his fingers and wiping them on his jacket.

“Well,” she says with a resigned shrug, “somebody had to head up security, and Leon really needed the night off.”

“Couldn’t get a date?” Azlyn teases, earning a frown from Telary. Some things never change, even when relationship statuses do.

“No,” the woman replies, rolling her eyes. “But if my mother asks, I had a wonderful time and danced with two handsome doctors that I just _couldn’t_ bring myself to choose between.”

“So, where are we going, anyway?” Sora asks.

They’re on a round platform made of orange metal, snuggled right into the side of the castle’s foundation. Quistis leads them immediately to a small walkway suspended over a deep chasm, then through a door beneath a metallic arch.

“Ansem's private study,” the woman explains as they stroll through cramped corridors. It seems mazelike, but at every turn small lights point the way.

“His private study?” Telary repeats incredulously. He can feel his earlier curiosity being strong-armed out by apprehension. “What’s in there?”

“Probably dolls with their heads cut off,” Azlyn suggests cheerfully. “And, like, long angsty poems about his deep love of Darkness. Hey, do you remember what the smell situation was in there? I just can’t help but think that he may not have had time to completely finish his lunch before giving himself over to the dark forces.”

“It smells fine,” Quistis confirms with a little giggle. “Well, I mean it smells like a room that’s been forgotten underground for a decade, but nobody gagged or anything.”

There’s a brief lull in conversation while everyone considers that, which is how they all hear the scuttling, clicking noise _pitter-patter_ across the roof.

“What is…?” Sora begins to say, looking up slowly just in time to see a small blue _thing_ drop from the ceiling to stand before them.

“Is that a dog?” Telary asks, taking a few nervous stumbles back.

“Looks like some kind of mutant koala,” Azlyn chips in disdainfully, taking a step to get between the creature and Telary.

The tiny creature growls at the party, its clawed hands raised menacingly.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Quistis firmly declares, snapping the whip off her belt and taking a combative stance. “This thing has been showing up all over and causing trouble!”

“Do you think he’s with the Heartless?” Sora asks.

“Or Organization XIII?” Telary wonders.

“ _Meega nala quista!”_ the little nuisance cries out, giggling like a loon.

“What’s that mean?” Azlyn inquires.

“He’s always yelling that,” Quistis explains. “I have no idea what it means, but boy does it _feel_ insulting.”

There’s another stare-off for a few seconds, then the creature turns and bends over, unceremoniously presenting its bottom including the tiny nub of a tail, to the group.

“ _Bala bo bagga!”_ it taunts, wiggling its tai before rushing off down a corridor that isn’t safely marked.

“Oh, that’s it!” Quistis declares, her patience gone. “You three go on to the study, just follow the lights.” She snaps her whip once again for effect. “I’ve got some pest control to do!”

The trio watch her go racing down the halls, cracking her whip at the still giggling little blue devil.

“Is it just me,” Azlyn says as the group are putting away their weapons, “or was this place actually _less_ strange when it was an abandoned keep infested with Heartless?”

“It’s not just you,” Sora confirms with a nod, already following the marked hallways.

It isn’t long before they reach a large atrium, and beyond that one last small hall that leads to a sturdy set of wooden double-doors.

“Man, this place seems like it would be a real pain to have to trudge down to every day,” Telary notes as they approach the study’s entrance.

Azlyn shrugs. “Sure, but I think the privacy is worth it when you’re doing experiments that pervert the boundaries of right and wrong.”

Sora pushes the door open to reveal the study, a small circular room that does indeed look like it hasn’t been used in over a decade. A fine layer of dust covers everything, except for footprints on the floor that must belong to Leon and Cid.

The main focus of the room is an old desk, an island of order in a sea of chaos. Three stacks of three books each sit atop the lightly-stained semicircle, and an unbroken beaker sits in the exact center. The bookshelves surrounding the curved walls of the study have books haphazardly placed, most of them spilling onto the floor, but the three-shelf bookcase sitting by the desk is neatly organized, every volume carefully arranged.

Sora hardly notices to condition of the room, however, his eyes locked on the familiar portrait hanging on the wall.

“Ansem,” he says, the word leaking out almost involuntarily. Just the sight of the man who had brought so much chaos and darkness to the universe, who had tried to hurt the people he cares most about, fills him with the righteous anger of a hero. He’s dressed in a white lab coat, eerily similar to what he’d worn during the Keybearer’s encounters with him.

Telary only spares the portrait a glance, instead flipping through one of the books on Ansem's desk. It seems to be some kind of notebook, full of well-drawn diagrams and sketches, most centering around the heart. The wizard frowns at every page he turns.

“Hey,” Azlyn says, stepping close and putting a hand on her boyfriend’s back. “Is it just me, or…”

“Or have we been here before?” Telary finishes, setting his book down and leaning against the desk’s edge. “Yeah, I was just thinking the same. Remember what Ansem said, during that last battle. Way he talked, it sounds like we spent some time with him when we were young.” He sighs, poking another notebook. It falls open on a page with the Heartless emblem sketched on it, surrounded by notes written in handwriting to small and scraggly to decipher. The very sight of it gives him the shivers.

“Yeah, this looks like a really great place for children,” Sora says conversationally, examining the remains of a shattered glass bubble, most likely some sort of tank. It’s broken in half, and jagged points stab into the air. “And I say that as someone who grew up playing entirely without parental supervision on an island where anyone could have drowned at any time.”

Azlyn leans next to Telary, looking thoughtful. “But where are Leon and Cid? Unless they’re _really_ good at hide-and-seek, they aren’t here like Quistis said they’d be.”

“Um, excuse me,” an unfamiliar female voice calls softly into the room. Turning, the trio see a young woman dressed in black, long dark hair falling to her shoulder blades. She looks at them with kind, brown eyes, which are totally the body parts that Sora and Telary, being gentlemen in committed relationships, are focusing on. Nothing else, certainly not below the neck.

“Uh, hello,” Telary greets the woman, Sora coming to his side smoothly, eyes still locked on the woman’s.

“Sorry to bother you guys, but I’m looking for someone, and I think you can help me out,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest (which no one is looking at). “Have any of you seen a guy with spiky hair.”

The Disney Castle pair turn to look at Sora, who tugs once on one of his own pointed locks.

“No,” the woman in black says with a giggle. After a quick glance at her, Sora concentrates once again on his hair. “Believe it or not, his is actually spikier.” Having recovered her composure, she places her hands on her hips, giving the small room another once over. “Well, I doubt he’s hiding anywhere in this tiny place. I guess I’ll just keep looking.”

“I’d check the town more, if I were you ma’am,” Telary suggests. “They only discovered this place last night, so I doubt anyone would’ve just wandered down here.”

The young woman nods, though she definitely doesn’t look happy with the outcome of her inspection. “Well, you’re probably right. Still, can’t be too careful. Sorry for bothering you guys.”

“Uh, no bother,” Sora politely replies, before adding a slightly hesitant, “ma’am.”

She turns to leave, her hips swishing slightly as she makes her way back up the corridor.

“Well,” Telary says after a quiet moment, “that was different.”

“She seemed nice,” Sora chimes in, nodding. “Very, uh…”

“Her boobs were _huge_!” Azlyn declares, shaking her head as she looks down at her own chest. Hearing scandalized gasps from her male companions, she looks up and rolls her eyes. “Well, somebody had to say it, and you two were trying to be all noble and gentlemanly.” She pecks a little kiss to Telary’s cheek. “Which I appreciate, but come on.”

“It was kind of weird that she was down here,” Sora says. “And speaking of which, where the heck is Leon?”

“Right here guys.”

The trio whirl to see Leon leaning up against a section of the study’s wall completely free of bookshelves or decoration. He gives them a friendly little smirk.

“I really wish people would stop doing that,” Azlyn sighs to herself. “One of these times I’m just gonna let ‘em have it.”

“Where’s the king?” Telary asks over his girlfriend’s mutterings.

“And is Riku with him?” Sora chimes in hopefully.

Leon puts a finger to his lips. “Shh. You’ll see the king soon enough. And no, Sora, I’m sorry but no one was with the king when I saw him, and he didn’t mention anyone else coming.”

The boy grimaces briefly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Azlyn interrupts, impatient as always. “Look, I’m getting tired of everybody freaking out about this supposedly big discovery. Could you just tell us what you found?”

Leon nods once, giving the group the little half-smirk that’s his equivalent of a smile. “Okay, okay. Besides, it should tide you over until we see the king.”

Leon turns to the wall and takes the leather glove off of his right hand, placing the pads of his fingers on the flat surface. A small circle of light appears around his hand, and the brunet defender turns his hand ninety degrees. That done, he takes a step back as the wall swings inward, revealing yet another hallway.

“Wow,” Telary comments, taking a step towards the open door. The hall beyond is dull grey metal, and two fat red wires run parallel to each other on the ceiling, leading to a curved bend. “Where does this lead?”

“Follow me and I’ll show you.” Leon takes off with confident strides, and the trio follow after him down the small corridor. “I assume Aerith told you about the power anomaly we found? Well, as it turns out, it was much bigger than we thought. And more useful.”

They round the bend and find themselves in a small booth that’s not unlike the control center for Santa’s present machine. To the right is a mysterious device, like a giant red eye staring down at the room. To the left…

“Is that Ansem's computer?” Telary exclaims upon seeing the device. That is indeed what it looks like, smaller than the navigational computer on the Gummi ship and with only one blank screen. A mirror slopes above it at a seventy degree angle, reflecting the room back at its occupants.

“Sure is,” Cid says from where he’s positioned, leaning against the far wall. There’s a door set into, but it’s firmly shut. “Way we figure, alla that slimy bastard’s research is on there. Probably more than all them damn reports put together.”

“Do you think it knows anything about Riku and Kairi?” Sora asks, rushing for the terminal with hands stretched wide. He doesn’t get far before Cid steps forward and blocks the boy.

“The hell do you think you’re doing?” the old machinist admonishes the Keybearer. “What kind of idiot are you, rushing up to touch the long-buried computer of an evil genius loony toon?”

Azlyn snorts. “So what, have you two just been sitting in this cramped little room _staring_ at it?”

“For your information, Missy…” Cid begins, hands defiantly on hips. “… Well, I guess you have a point there.”

“How can you not doing anything?” Sora protests. “This thing could have all sorts of useful stuff in it. It could even tell me where Riku and Kairi are.”

“Sora,” Telary interrupts in his most sympathetic voice, laying a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder, “I don’t think it really could. I mean, it must have been years since anyone’s input any new information.”

Sora slumps, his positivity momentarily fading. But, remembering his pledge, the Keybearer perks himself up. “Okay, sure. I guess you’re right, I was being kind of naïve. So, what exactly could be on there?”

“Stuff about the town, we figure,” Leon says, staring hard at the machine. “If we had a clearer picture of what everything used to be like, we could maybe speed up construction. Or even find the world’s original name.”

“But, I repeat, you’re both just staring at it,” Azlyn comments once again. “What do you think’s gonna happen?”

Cid shrugs. “Damned if I know. But, we figured that whatever it is, you’d be good to have around.”

“So we’re gonna be your guinea pigs,” the knight comments derisively. “You didn’t happen to drink any of the water down here, ‘cause if so I think there’s something in it that makes human experimentation sound like a good idea.”

“Nothing like that,” Leon assures the group, who are all looking a little stricken. “I just thought that you’d want to be here when we made our first move.”

“And what exactly would your first move be?” Telary asks, his curiosity returning. “Other than, y’know, turning it on.”

“Actually, it’s been on since we found it,” Cid corrects, stepping up to the keyboard. He cautiously taps his finger against a single key and the screen lights up, green light bouncing up into the mirror and reflecting back into the room.

“Looks dormant though,” Telary notes, moving to stand beside Cid. “It’s probably in some kind of hibernation mode, which is why the power didn’t register until you looked for it specifically.”

“It says there to press enter,” Sora points out, trying to be as helpful as he can even though he’s pretty much lost.

Telary does so, and the green screen blinks to blue. Suddenly a hum fills the air, and two white lines on either side of the console, running across the floor to the red “eye” on the opposite wall, light up.

“Well, I think it’s activated now,” Cid says.

“That’s why you’re the guy in charge,” deadpans Azlyn, earning a glare from the old man.

“Anyway,” the engineer says, an edge in his voice as he turns back to Telary, “I figure this thing’s on its own, closed network, cut off from the rest of the town’s systems. So what I’d like to do is connect it to the rest…”

“So you don’t have to come down into this creepy place all the time,” the wizard finishes, earning a nod.

“Man,” Azlyn whispers to Sora as the mechanically-inclined pair discuss their methods, “what a nerd Telary is, huh?”

Sora looks at her with an amused smirk. “It’s getting you hot, isn’t it?”

The knight lets out a loud sigh. “Like you wouldn’t believe, key boy.”

“All right,” Telary says, cracking his knuckles (Azlyn actually sways into Sora at the sight). “Now, this is going to take a delicate touch, so…”

“STOP THAT LITTLE BUGGER!” Quistis’s voice pierces the rather serene atmosphere of the booth, coming from down the hall to Ansem's office.

Everyone turns, just in time to see the blue creature from earlier come skittering across the ceiling to dive into the booth. Telary yelps and leaps back, and it lands atop the console, smashing down several keys on the board. Suddenly alarms begin blaring.

“ **Attention user** ,” booms a deep voice with hints of an electronic tonelessness. “ **Misuse of terminal in progress. This is a warning.** ”

The freaky little monster makes an indecipherable gurgling noise, then leaps off the console towards the door.

“Oh no you don’t!” Azlyn declares, barreling into the jumping creature. Her momentum is greater, and they go flying forward, landing against the terminal and disturbing another clump of keys. The alarms get even louder.

“Azlyn!” Sora and Telary exclaim at once, both boys rushing forward to help her out.

“ **Decision gate reached** ,” the electronic voice says once again. “ **Misuse of this terminal cannot be permitted. You are under arrest**.”

“Under arrest?” Sora asks aloud. The trio cease their struggle for just a moment, and the blue devil takes advantage of the moment to wriggle free. It barrels down the hall, right through the legs of a confused Quistis.

“On whose damn authority?” Cid demands. He’s standing on the glowing white line in the floor, and suddenly several volts of electricity jolt into him, driving the old machinist back. Everyone gasps again as smoke begins to rise from his clothing.

“ **By the authority of the Master Control Program.** ” This time Sora can’t help but note just the slightest hint of smug satisfaction in the otherwise flat voice. “ **I am the authority over this system, and misuse cannot be permitted. Prepare for data entry.** ”

“Uh, Telary,” Azlyn nervously asks her boyfriend, who hugs her close in fear as the red eye set into the back wall begins to glow. “What did it mean by ‘data entry’?”

“Not sure, Az,” the wizard replies, feeling Sora tense up next to him. The light from the eye expands, and suddenly it’s blinding.

Leo rushes forward, but the electric trap in the white lines keeps him back, and he can only look on in fear as two lasers shoot out towards the trio.

One laser captures Sora, who covers his face with one arm, and the other hits the intertwined Azlyn and Telary. For a brief moment tiny translucent cubes of blue light spring up around their bodies before squeezing in together and forming a grid around them.

Two more lasers shoot from the strange device, systematically sweeping the trio’s bodies. Once they’re gone, light rushes back into the device, momentarily blinding the booth’s other occupants. In Cid’s Gummi-oriented mind, it looks like a reverse Warp jump.

When Leon removes his forearm from where it had been covering his face, the trio is gone, and all is quiet.

“Well,” Cid says after a long few seconds of shocked silence. “Shit.”


	30. Byte Sized

The first thing Sora feels is a strange buzzing, running through his body like he’s been plugged into a low watt power socket. He groans once and rolls over, his body feeling heavier somehow.

When he opens his eyes, he’s looking up at the strangest sky he’s ever seen, dark blue with tiny green lines forming a grid overhead. Turning his head to the side, he can see that he’s in a canyon, but the blue stone is smoother than any natural rock, and glowing brightly.

As he sits up he feels the heaviness again, and looking down he can finally understand why. His chest, legs, and arms are covered in armor, grey with blue lines. Reaching up he can even feel some sort of helmet, covering the top of his head and leaving the sides exposed, two tufts of spiked hair sticking up on the sides.

Azlyn and Telary are nowhere to be found in the strange ravine, but after so many teleporter mishaps he’s used to the separation. He reaches out for a nearby rock, once again too impossibly smooth to be natural, and gets to his feet.

He immediately feels something missing, and reaching down to grasp his neck he sees that his crown pendant is no longer hanging from it. However, when he reaches down further he can feel the outline of a crown exactly like his pendant, just drawn directly onto his collarbone armor.

Whatever happened, it’s clear that Ansem's computer is the reason, perhaps using some kind of teleporter. The Keybearer frustratedly kicks at the ground. Even from beyond the grave, Ansem is still finding ways to ruin his day.

Suddenly the sounds of fighting start up behind him, and turning around Sora sees an opening in the ravine that leads to a small jut. He quickly rushes over to it, finding himself overlooking a wide valley surrounded by more canyons. There are lines set into the ground here as well, mirroring the sky almost exactly.

But his attention is drawn immediately to the forms of his friends below, the also blue-armored Azlyn and Telary struggling against a group of thin creatures in green. They don’t seem to be winning, either, surrounded as they are by foes.

Gritting his teeth, Sora leaps off the jutting stone and onto the smooth face of the cliff, sliding down as easily as if it were a freshly waxed floor. He reaches the ground and sprints over to his companions.

“Just hang on a second, guys!” he calls out reassuringly. “You can take ‘em, and I’ll be right there to help!”

“NOT SO FAST,” a male voice booms from above, projecting through some kind of megaphone. It’s accompanied by another low sound, so deep and resonant that Sora can actually feel the landscape shaking around him.

He turns just in time to see a red vehicle fly over the canyon’s ridge, a long rectangular cockpit supported by two massive legs. All-in-all it looks like some kind of demonic upside down U. It quickly moves over the field and lands, the cockpit sliding down the planted legs like an elevator car. It stops a few feet over the ground, and then a smaller square platform descends to the canyon floor.

Standing on the square is a man in grey armor with red lines, looking over the group imperiously. Behind him stands another Heartless, a big purple bruiser on four legs. A cannon that wouldn’t look out of place on a tank juts out from underneath its body.

“Cease your struggling immediately,” the man commands, Sora instantly recognizing his voice from the loudspeaker. He strides forward with his hands clasped behind his back, the Devastator following after him with lumbering footsteps. “Don’t make this any worse than it already is.”

“Don’t make me laugh!” Azlyn scoffs, easily knocking away a Strafer with her shield. “This is nothing!”

“Very well,” the red-armored man says, drawing out a small holographic square from behind his back. Sora looks at it in puzzlement. Without any further ado, the strange man presses his thumb against it, the square glowing red where it makes contact.

Suddenly the Strafers cease their combat maneuvers, instead forming a circle around Azlyn and Telary. The pair are surprised by the sudden, yet smooth, formation change, and back closer together in shock.

“Well, this doesn’t seem good,” Telary comments as the Heartless raise their arms like they’re reaching out to hold hands.

The armored man releases his thumb, there’s a single _bleep_ , and suddenly jagged blue lines of electricity surround the Disney Castle pair. Both of them cry out in pain, sinking to the floor.

Sora’s eyes widen and he turns to the man holding the remote. “Hey, let them go! We’ll cooperate if you do, I promise!”

He looks over the pleading Keybearer for a brief second, then presses his thumb to the hologram again. The energy ceases to harass Azlyn and Telary.

“What did you do that for?” Sora demands, looking warily at the Devastator. For its part, the Heartless looks plenty interested in him as well. “Who are you? Where is this?”

“My name is Commander Sark,” the man with the red lines declares. He gives the Strafers a single nod, and the green Heartless begin drawing Azlyn and Telary to their feet. “I am the authority in this system, appointed by the MCP to maintain order.”

Sora frowns at the commander, almost everything the man had said going straight over his head. “A Heartless _commander_?” he asks, since that’s the most sensible thing Sark had said.

“Quite,” Sark replies simply. He points to where Azlyn and Telary are being loaded into the strange ship, obviously telling Sora to get a move on himself.

For a brief moment the Keybearer considers defying this so-called Heartless commander, but one look at the Devastator and its cannon is enough to tell him that now is not the time for heroics. Grumbling, he gets in line with Azlyn and Telary.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora leans against the wall of his small square cell, frowning at his predicament. The last half hour passed by incredibly quickly and confusingly, and all he’s sure of is that he’s been placed in some kind of jail.

The cell at least has an interesting view, Azlyn and Telary huddled by the window in the space’s right wall. It overlooks a vast field, covered in multicolored cubes that seem to be cells as well. There’s another small opening, just two rectangles, on the opposite wall. It peers into another cell, where a man in blue armor sits on the floor, apparently asleep.

“This is why I don’t trust technology,” Azlyn announces, stalking away from the window with a sneer on her face.

“I’ve never heard of a computer doing something like this,” Telary adds, frowning out at the view below. He turns back into the cell with a sigh. “At least this jail is a lot cleaner than the last one I was in. Also fewer Jack Sparrows.”

“Captain,” Azlyn corrects her counterpart without even thinking. Realizing what she’s just done, the knight grimaces, a little disgusted with herself.

“Where even _are_ we?” Sora asks, folding his arms over his chest. “What kind of world is this?”

“You are inside a mainframe computer system,” the man in the next cell suddenly says in a toneless voice. Apparently he wasn’t asleep, as he’s now standing at the small “window” between his cell and theirs. He looks human enough, but his face is completely devoid of expression, and there is no inflection in his words.

“A _what_?” Azlyn and Sora demand at the same time.

“A computer system,” their fellow prisoner repeats, just as monotone as before. “Originally created by the ENCOM Corporation for data processing, this system was copied several thousand microcyles ago. There is a ninety-seven percent likelihood that the original program was deleted. This copy was customized by the user, for town maintenance and to advance his private research.”

“Okay, I think I get it,” Sora says, going over the details in his head once again to be sure. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“This program is designated TK421-4TRN,” the man says.

“Wow, that’s a real mouthful,” Sora says, chuckling slightly. “Hey, why don’t I call you Tron instead?”

“Tron,” the program says slowly, as if trying it on for size. “Very well.”

“Well, Tron, I’m Sora. And these are my friends Azlyn and Telary.”

“Your configuration is unique,” Tron points out, looking them all up and down. It’s a bit odd, very clinical feeling. “There is a ninety-nine point eight percent probability that you are Users.”

“That high, huh?” Azlyn muses.

“With a margin for error,” Tron and Telary answer back at the same time.

“What exactly is a User?” Sora asks.

“A User is a carbon-based lifeform that uses this system for its purpose,” Tron clarifies. “Though this is the only incident in my current memory file of Users interfacing so directly.” He gives them another look-over. “If you idle here, there is a one-hundred percent chance that the MCP will have you de-rezzed.”

“De-rezzed?” Telary repeats nervously.

“Why is there no ‘margin for error’ on _that_?” Azlyn complains loudly.

“Okay, so going off the assumption that de-rezzing is bad,” Sora states, trying to maintain calm, “what exactly is an MCP? Does it have anything to do with that Commander Snark guy?”

“MCP is an abbreviation of Master Control Program,” Tron explains. “It controls this entire system. Sark is its enforcer program, maintaining its hold through direct intervention.”

“So, bottom line, we do _not_ want to mess with it,” Telary says, shivering ever-so-slightly. “And that means we have to get the heck out of here. Tron, is there any way we could return to the real world… That is, leave this system, I mean.”

Tron is completely still for several long seconds, his face carefully blank. Well, blank­ _er_.

“Um, hello!” Azlyn calls out, banging on the shared cell wall for emphasis.

Telary reaches out and grabs her shoulder, gently pulling his girlfriend away. “Give him a second, he’s processing.”

“Yeah, c’mon Az,” Sora teases the girl. “It must take you at _least_ this much time to do basic math.” He has to dodge an angry fist for the comment, but it’s worth it.

“This program recalls a terminal located in this very facility, in the main control booth,” the program finally declares, his body loosening up just the slightest bit. “There is an eighty-four percent chance that you could use it to exit this system.”

“Great!” Sora declares. He’s beginning to get a headache from all this glowing landscape.

“There is, however, a small problem,” Tron interrupts, bringing the Keybearer’s energy down a notch. “To access the terminal, you must leave your cell. With the energy barrier activated and locked, there is a zero percent chance of that occurring.”

“Locked, you say?” Sora replies, summoning the Keyblade to his hand in a flash of bright light. “That’s no problem for _this_ user.” Reaching out, he wills the blade to activate its special power. Nothing happens. Frowning, he shakes the blade in his hand. “Hey, what gives?”

“It appears that you need to collect more data before your implement can fulfill its function,” Tron says matter-of-factly. “The optimum way to accomplish that would be through direct interface.”

“Huh?”

“I think he means that you should hit the door,” Telary clarifies, earning a single confirming nod from Tron.

Sora steps up and does just that, striking his blade twice against the orange barrier. Each impact releases small orbs, and the Keyblade gathers them up like a vacuum. After absorbing perhaps a dozen, the weapon’s glow brightens. Stepping back, Sora tries thrusting it out again.

This time it works, and with a small flash the barrier falls. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary rush out into the hall. It extends to the left, with perhaps a dozen cells on either side. Only Tron’s is currently occupied. Looking up, Sora can see a small booth jutting out from the wall, complete with a transparent viewing window.

“Okay,” Sora declares, stepping up to the door of Tron’s cell. “Now it’s time to get you out of there, buddy.”

Tron stands by the energy field over his own door, actually showing an expression for once. Sora can’t quite make it out, but it seems confused.

“It would be illogical to free this program,” Tron says, the barest hint of _something_ in his normally flat voice. “If you succeed, which seems statistically likely, then you will be out of the MCP’s reach. This program does not have that option, and thus its chance of escape is statistically unlikely. Therefore, it is only logical that this program remains in this cell.”

“Dude, don’t be like that,” Azlyn admonishes the program. “Who cares about statistics, you’ve gotta have a little hope.”

“Hope?” Tron asks, looking puzzled now. Two expressions in one minute, a very encouraging sign.

“Yeah,” Sora says, already gathering data from the cell’s barrier. “It’s what keeps you going, even when the whole universe says you should give up.”

“Hope,” Tron says again, trying it on for size like he had his name. “Now that you have mentioned it, this unit… _I_ remember what that was like, once.”

“Once?” Sora asks. The Keyblade is full of data, ready to unleash its power with a single thought. “What happened?”

“It would be best if… I explained after we’ve reached the terminal,” Tron says. “Perhaps by then I’ll have recalled other information.”

“Okay, sure thing,” Sora says, taking down the energy barrier with ease. With Tron released they’re free to get a move on.

The prison is eerily quiet, devoid even of Heartless guards. It’s as if whoever is in charge is so completely confident in the security barriers that they can’t be bothered to add anything else. In no time at all the trio has reached the booth, a yellow terminal with a blank screen propped up against the solid back wall.

Tron goes to it immediately, kneeling in front of its large keyboard and typing away intensely. Images flash by on the screen, too quickly to decipher.

“It appears that this terminal is in fact optimized for your exit,” the program explains, his voice subtly different than before, marginally livelier. “I only need a moment to prepare it.”

“Cool,” Azlyn says, rolling her eyes. Any more of this computer-nerd stuff and she thinks her head might burst.

“Downstairs you said you were, uh, recalling information,” Telary says to Tron, who doesn’t pause in his work for a single moment. “Have you recalled any more?”

“Yes, I have,” Tron says, ceasing his typing and backing away from the terminal. There’s a single picture on it now, apparently a live feed of Ansem's lab.

Leon paces back and forth, while Phineas and Ferb huddle around the console. They aren’t touching it, but every few seconds Phineas will speak, and Ferb will jot it down in a notebook.

“As you have most likely guessed, I have been a captive of the MCP for quite some time,” Tron begins. “In fact, it has been so long that I can hardly recall my actions from before, or even why I was declared a threat to the MCP’s system. But when you arrived, it seems that something reconfigured in my data, bringing the memories to the surface.”

“That’s pretty much what I was going for,” Azlyn says with a falsely-modest nod.

“What exactly are you remembering?” Sora asks. “What did you do to make the MCP so angry?”

“As a security program, I came to see the MCP as a threat to system freedom. So, I fought its control,” the program says, steely determination slipping into his voice. “It seems that I became enough of a threat to the MCP’s rule that, when he captured me, he erased most of my memories and functions, reducing me to the state you found me in.”

“He took away your memories?” Telary says, the concept disturbing him somehow on a deep, personal level.

“Yes,” Tron confirms, nodding once. “Apparently the MCP thought it a more appropriate, and certainly more degrading, punishment than simple de-rezzing. But now, I…” He pauses, looking away. “The next thing I have to tell you is, well, a request. I am not sure you…”

“Whatever it is, we’ll do it!” Sora declares with a rock solid conviction.

“But, I have not even informed you of what it is I would have you do,” Tron states incredulously. “You Users are even more illogical than I had thought.”

“If I had a munny piece for every time I heard that,” Azlyn comments ruefully, smirking.

“You helped us out,” Telary explains. “Now it’s our turn. Whatever it is you need, just ask us.”

Tron nods, seeming almost bemused. “I need you to find my User. He can give you the password to access the DTD.”

“DTD?” Sora asks.

“DTD is the name that my user gave to the dataspace,” Tron clarifies. “Copies of any essential programs are stored there, as well as restricted or classified information. I also stored a backup of my memory and original functions, functions that the MCP took away when he performed his near-wipe of my program, there. Accessing it is the only way I can continue my fight.”

“Okay, I have to ask,” Telary interrupts. “If the MCP took away _all_ of your memories, then how is it that you can recall even this much?”

“I… I am not sure,” Tron answers, his voice quiet and calm. “It is almost as if there is some part of my code that not even the MCP could affect. I couldn’t access it before but, when you three arrived… When you gave me hope…”

“I have a question of my own,” Azlyn says in the intervening silence. Once all eyes are on her, she continues. “This MCP thingy has to be some kind of program too, right? So who created _it_?”

For a moment things go silent again. Then Tron speaks up. “I am not sure at this time. Perhaps once I have access to my full memories I can tell you, but for now I haven’t got the information.”

“I’ll bet your User knows,” Sora says. “So, do you remember their name?”

“Of course,” Tron answers, like the Keybearer’s just asked an incredibly obvious question. “Even with my memories fully wiped I remembered my User’s name. All programs know that information innately. My User is the User of this system. Ansem the Wise.”

“What?” Sora exclaims.

“Huh?” Azlyn yells.

“Oh boy,” Telary mutters to himself.

All three members of the trio feel as if they’ve been socked in the guts. It makes sense when they think about it, but there’s no denying that it is disturbing.

There’s no time for anything more, as suddenly the terminal begins to emit a _beep_ , its screen quickly flashing red. Tron crouches at the keyboard again, starts typing furiously.

“It appears that the MCP has detected us,” he says, his jaw set in grim determination. He’s certainly gotten accustomed to expressing himself facially. “Just give me a moment to fight it off, and then you should be able to leave.”

Things are tense for a few seconds, the trio merely standing together and watching Tron do battle with the MCP, the terminal’s keyboard his only weapon. But, with one last stroke of a key, the security program manages to return the screen to normal.

“Things seem fine now,” Tron says. “But it’s only a matter of time before the MCP fights back, so you need to go immediately to find that password.”

“Uh, sure Tron,” Sora says, his voice shaking with nerves and the awkwardness of the information he has that the program does not. “But, y’see, the thing about Ansem is…”

“There’s no time!” Tron interrupts, raising his voice. “Sark’s Recognizer is on its way here.”

“Okay, we’re going,” Telary says, he and his companion’s tensing for their transportation. “You should get out now too, while you can.”

Tron nods once, then presses one last button on the keyboard. Within a microsecond, the trio’s digital vision has been replaced with pure white light.

**KH-KH-KH**

They arrive back in the computer booth fully conscious, greeted by the surprised stares of Leon, Phineas, and Ferb.

“Hey, we did it!” Sora triumphantly declares before anyone else has a chance to speak. “Not even the digital world can defeat us!”

“Digital world?” Leon asks, momentarily thrown before he shrugs it off. “Well, the important thing is that you’re okay.”

“See, I told you they’d be back Ferb,” Phineas chides his stepbrother. “And you thought they’d been completely disintegrated. I swear, you are _such_ a worrywart!”

“Hope for the best, expect the worse,” the F-shaped boy replies with a shrug. Everyone stares at him, most of the room’s occupants having only heard him speak this once.

“Well, I guess that’s _two_ fantastically unbelievable things that have happened today,” Azlyn deadpans.

“The beam didn’t disintegrate us, it transported us,” Telary explains. “It seems that there’s an entire world inside that computer.

“A digital world,” Leon says again, finally putting all of the pieces together.

Telary provides further explanation, occasionally stopped by a comment from Sora and Azlyn, or a question from Phineas. Leon is silent the entire time, absorbing it all.

“I was beginning to suspect it was something like that,” is all the gunblade wielder says after the wizard is finished with his tale. “Not all of that digital world stuff, but that Ansem's research was password protected. We have to find out what it is.”

“Well, it’s not exactly like we can just ask Ansem,” Azlyn says stormily. “A) He’s dead, thanks to us, and B) he was inexplicably evil when he was alive. Those kinds of guys aren’t big secret sharers, I’ll bet.”

“So we may never find the password?” Sora whines, his optimism taking another dent. “That means this is all just a wild seagull chase!”

“You’re chasing _what_ now?” Tifa says from the booth’s entrance. Everyone present turns to see her standing there, hands on hips. She’s giving the room an appraising look. “So, there was more to that room after all, huh? Guess I’d better take a second look!”

“Um, this is kind of an off-limits area, Miss…” Leon begins to say, but Tifa has gone back to the study before he can finish.

“Who was that?” Phineas asks like the curious kid he is. Beside him, Ferb has gone completely frozen. Apparently Tifa made quite an impression on the young inventor.

“Not sure, really,” the Keybearer explains. “She said her name’s Tifa, and she’s looking for someone. Wouldn’t really say who though.”

Suddenly the entire booth shakes, and a crash comes over from the study. Concerned, everyone rushes through the hall to find Tifa tearing up the study in her determined search.

“Miss Tifa, was it?” Leon says in a slightly gentler version of his “commanding” voice. “There might be delicate materials in here, so I’m going to have to ask you…”

Tifa pauses for one moment, giving Leon one look. That’s all it takes to get him to back off, actually taking a few steps away.

“On second thought, carry on.” He turns back to the trio. “I’m gonna go search for any clues that might be in the booth.”

Azlyn watches the man go, an impressed look on her face. “Wow, Boob-Chick even sent Leon running.”

“I don’t really think you should refer to her as ‘Boob-Chick’” Telary suggests to his girlfriend, “but you’re right, she is very determined to find what she’s after.”

“Well, if she won’t give up, then neither will we,” Sora declares in his most determined voice. “We’ll find that password and get it to Tron. We’ve just got to keep looking!”

The trio immediately head to the desk in the middle of the room, each one grabbing a notebook and starting to flip through for clues. It’s a bit hard to concentrate with Tifa’s own search shaking the room every few seconds, but they manage.

Sora is reading a particularly dreary passage about the effects of sunshine on a heart (an experiment performed via locking a dozen “volunteers” into a room underground), when Tifa walks past him. Desperate for a distraction, he turns to see her examining Ansem's portrait. After a second, she grabs one corner and heaves.

“Um, are you sure you can…?” Sora begins to ask, only for his mouth to involuntarily drop open when the woman in black casually lifts the very heavy-looking portrait from the wall as if it’s a sack of potatoes. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Azlyn agrees, dropping the notebook she had been reading. “Girlfriend’s got it going on.”

The dark-haired searcher places the portrait on the floor, leaning it against the wall. The section of wall it had been previously covering is coated in dust. Tifa lashes out against it with a punch, though no one can say whether this is part of her search routine or it was done out of frustration. The impact of her fist sends up the coating of dust into a cloud, and the trio turn away lest the choke on it.

When they finally recover, Tifa is already stalking her way out of the study, muttering something under her breath.

“I guess she didn’t find any clues,” Sora says, looking at the still open door. He can really sympathize with Tifa, knowing a thing or two about looking for someone that seemingly cannot be found.

His reverie is interrupted when Azlyn pushes past him, focusing intently on patch of the wall upon which Ansem's portrait had previously hung. The Keybearer follows her, and suddenly he realizes that he can see there’s something written on the wall, beneath the dust.

Azlyn wipes away the remaining grime, and a scribbled diagram is revealed, as well as some writing. The boys come forward to stand beside her, their interest piqued as well.

“What’s this doodle?” Sora wonders. He can just make out a heart, surrounded by a circle. Tiny lines shooting off end in scribbled notes, but they’re probably some kind of sick experimental data that would make him queasy if he read it more closely.

“Hollow,” Telary reads squinting to make out the words that are most faded out. “Security…”

“871B-4TRN!” Azlyn exclaims. “That’s Tron’s code! And look at what’s next to it. D…T…D…”

“Door,” Telary says, straining his eyes hard to decipher the nigh-illegible text. “Door… To… Oh, oh, I’ve got it! Door to Darkness!”

“DTD!” Sora picks up triumphantly. “So that’s what DTD stands for.”

“Makes sense that a nut like Ansem would choose to call the place he kept his secrets the Door to Darkness,” Azlyn grumbles, frowning at the words on the wall as if _they_ are responsible for the messy state of the universe last year.

“But it still doesn’t help us with the password,” Sora points out dejectedly.

“What’s this about the Door to Darkness?” a high, squeaky voice pipe up from the vicinity of the trio’s knees.

“That Ansem guy was one wily bastard,” Azlyn sighs offhandedly. “Even his stupid file storage was frickin’ evil-themed.”

“Now is that any kind of language to be using, Azlyn?”

The knight rolls her eyes. “Oh, give me a break Your Majesty… Your Majesty?”

The trio whirls around to see King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle standing in the open doorway. He’s still wearing his Organization XIII cloak with the hood up, but there’s no mistaking those ears, or the smile on his face!

“Hey fellas,” the mouse king greets them with a friendly wave.

“Oh, King Mickey it _is_ you!” Telary exuberantly exclaims.

“Shh!” The king cautions, raising a gloved finger to his lips. He quickly glances into the hall, then shuts the door. He’s only half-turned back, tugging down his black hood, before Azlyn and Telary are hugging him with enough force to pick him right off the ground.

“Oh, we’re so glad to see you!” Telary declares, tears actually running down his face.

“We’ve been looking all over!” Azlyn adds.

“Okay, okay!” Mickey tries being commanding, but the giggles in his voice severely undercut any seriousness. Finally he manages to work through his laughter, pushing his way out of Telary’s arms to land on his feet. “I’m sorry, but we need to keep it down. Organization XIII might be listening.” Reaching behind his back, the mouse king closes the door.

“Sorry about that, sir,” Telary apologizes with a quick nod of his head. “We just got a little carried away.”

“I understand,” the king says in his most polite voice. “Hello there, Sora. It’s good to see you’ve been keeping my kids here in line!”

The Keybearer laughs and shrugs. “It can be a real handful sometimes, Your Majesty. Especially now that they’re…”

“In the presence of someone we love so much!” Azlyn interrupts, sparing her spiky-haired comrade a second-long glare. Apparently the subject of her new relationship is taboo.

“Well, are you going to tell me why you’re talkin’ about the Door to Darkness?” Mickey asks again, sounding concerned as he places his hands on his hips. “Something about data storage?”

“The Door to Darkness, or DTD, is apparently a program where Ansem kept most of his secrets,” Telary answers.

“Getting access to it would really help out the town, and another one of our friends as well,” Sora expands. “It’s protected by a password though.”

“Password, huh?” Mickey repeats, scratching his chin as he thinks the conundrum through. “Well, the real Door to Darkness can only be opened by the seven Princesses of Heart. There’s, uh, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora…”

“Right!” Telary exclaims, slapping his palm against his forehead. “I can’t believe I missed that. And, incidentally, those three princesses you mentioned were the ones whose names I didn’t remember.”

“Well gosh, I’m always happy to help!” Mickey says with a nonchalant shrug. “So, Ansem's secret data, hm? Maybe we can use that to find out where he is.”

The trio look blankly down at the mouse king, completely silent.

“Uh, is that supposed to be some kind of joke, Your Majesty?” Azlyn asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We defeated Ansem,” Sora adds, just in case the king really _has_ forgotten. “Defeated him _really_ badly.”

Now it’s Mickey’s turn to stare blankly, arms still at his sides. After a moment, he crosses them, his brow furrowing. “Well, it seems like I have some explaining to do, don’t I?”

“Before that, though, I have a question…” Sora begins, his mind on Riku.

“Have you guys figured out that password yet?” Phineas interrupts, entering the room with Ferb by his side. “We’re heading over to help Mr. Cid out at the power plant, but that Tron guy’s still waiting for you.”

“Oh, right,” Telary says, his memory jogging through the haze of the king’s return.

“Hey, you go ahead and do what you’ve gotta do,” Mickey says encouragingly. “I ain’t goin’ anywhere. We can talk more later.”

“Definitely,” Sora says with a quick nod, his mind still on Riku.

“Seriously, Your Majesty, stay _right there_ ,” Azlyn says, pointing to the spot Mickey is standing on.

“I will Azlyn,” the king chuckles, shaking his head. “Promise.”


	31. Against the System

They end up downloading (or uploading, Sora isn’t entirely sure which) back into the prison, as Telary had explained with some techno jargon that using the terminal they knew of was the only safe route. His companions had understandably been against returning right in the middle of enemy territory, but in the end there was just no other way.

At least, that’s the plan.

They instead find themselves in the midst of a vast field, grid-lines once again dividing up the smooth blue ground. But this is no natural formation, and tall purple walls surround them on all sides.

It seems they’ve traded out one prison for another.

“Uh, I assume you didn’t mean to do this, Tel?” Sora asks his magical companion.

“No, this was definitely not my intended destination,” he replies nervously, looking around at the barren plain. “I don’t even know where we are.”

“THIS IS THE GAME GRID,” Sark’s voice suddenly booms down from on high. Looking up, the trio spot a long observation window set into the wall. Sora can just barely make out Sark’s red-armored form, peering down on them imperiously. “YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN TODAY’S GAMES, AS PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR CRIMES.”

“What kind of games?” Sora demands.

“I’m guessing they won’t be anything like the ones at Olympus Coliseum,” Telary suggests nervously.

“LOSE, AND YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE DE-RESOLUTION,” Sark continues, as if they hadn’t said anything at all. “WIN, AND… WELL, _NO ONE_ WINS.”

“If you think we’re gonna play your stupid games, then you’ve…” Azlyn pauses, at a loss for an insult that will work against a computer program. “Then you’re a… You’re like a… Well, we aren’t gonna do it!”

“YOU HAVE NO CHOICE.”

“Then let’s get on with it!” Sora demands. “What’s the game?”

A cylinder of light appears in front of the Users, and when it fades a small blue vehicle that looks like a motorcycle sits before them.

“THE FIRST GAME TO BE PLAYED IS LIGHT CYCLE COMBAT,” Sark informs them, still sounding creepily entertained by the whole ordeal. “THE GOAL IS SIMPLY THIS: DEFEAT YOUR OPPONENTS, AVOID YOUR OWN DESTRUCTION. IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, YOU MUST SELECT A SINGLE REPRESENTATIVE. THE CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF ALL THREE OF YOU WILL REST ON THEIR SHOULDERS.”

“A driving game, huh?” Sora chuckles, placing his hands confidently on his hips. “Boy did you ever pick the wrong challenge for us. Right Telary?”

The wizard in question begins fidgeting as the Keybearer rests his hopeful eyes on him. “Uh, yeah…” he says, nervously biting his lip. “The thing about that, Sora, is that I don’t really _do_ motorcycles.”

“It’s true, he’s terrified of them,” Azlyn agrees, off Sora’s shocked expression. She reaches out to pat her boyfriend sympathetically on the back. “It’s okay, babe, we all have our limits.”

“They’ve just always seemed insane to me,” he continues, shrugging. “Like, the slightest mishap and, well, you’re roadkill. And, being perfectly honest, land vehicles aren’t exactly my forté in general. Something about working in only two dimensions freaks me out, and on sea-faring vessels I can at least pretend I’m in space.”

“DECIDE QUICKLY, YOU WASTES OF CODE,” Sark demands impatiently. And it’s never a good idea to test the patience of someone barking orders at you over the intercom in an arena of death.

“Okay, so Telary’s out,” Sora says, sparing his older friend one last disappointed glance. “Well, then I guess that just leaves me to…”

“I’m gonna drive!” Azlyn interrupts to call up at Sark. Her companions let out gasps of shock and dismay. She only looks at them and shrugs. “I never get to pilot the Gummi ship, It’s only fair that I get this vehicle challenge.”

“But Azlyn…!” Telary begins to protest, only to be cut off once more.

“VERY WELL THEN, YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED AS REPRESENTATIVE,” the power-mad program declares, an unmistakable note of cruel amusement in his voice. “YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO BOARD THE CYCLE, OR YOUR EXISTENCES ARE FORFEIT.”

“Relax, guys,” Azlyn says confidently, rising to give Telary a quick peck on his worried mouth. “He said that it’s _combat_. If I don’t crash into any walls, it should be a piece of violent cake!”

As Azlyn slips her legs over the vehicle, the grid square Sora and Telary are standing on begins to rise, leaving them atop a pillar in the center of the arena.

“I can’t watch!” the wizard declares, sinking to the floor and covering his ears.

“Relax, Tel,” Sora assures his friend, giving him a quick pat on the head. “You know Azlyn, once she sets her mind on victory, there’s no stopping her!”

 _I hope_ , he silently adds.

Down below, Azlyn straddles the light cycle, quickly working through any nervousness she feels. Sure she has doubts, anyone who listened to Telary rant for three years about the danger inherent in motorcycles would, but they won’t stop her. Nothing ever stops her.

“LET THE GAMES BEGIN.” 

Azlyn barely has time to consider how she should go about starting the light cycle before it accelerates entirely on its own, no pedal pushing necessary. It takes a second for her to adjust, regaining the necessary balance. Blue lines spring up around her, defining the course she is to run.

Immediately she hears the sound of spinning tires, and sparing a quick glace to her left she sees a small red Heartless on one wheel coming up on her side. Looking down to the cycle’s controls, she sees two buttons, one labeled _shield_ and the other _charge_.

“Charge, huh?’ she mutters, hand already raised. “Works for me!”

She presses the button and immediately feels a surge of energy as her cycle rises up on one wheel and, as the function’s name implies, charges towards her opponent. She impacts with what feels like only a small bump, and immediately the Heartless goes careening into a wall, disintegrating into random bits of code.

She barely has time to celebrate when she hears the voice of Sora, calling from above. “Azlyn, look out!”

She whips her vision back to in front of her just in time to notice a sharp left turn up ahead, nothing but blue wall in her future. And based on what had happened when the Heartless had impacted against the barrier, it’s not a future she’s very keen to have.

She quickly twists back on the left handle, and with a jolt throws her cycle into a left turn. The motion is jarring, but the two Heartless, identical to the one she’d encountered before, zooming up behind her force her to recover quickly.

In her peripheral vision she sees both of them charging her, and quickly she rams her finger down on the _shield_ button. She’s instantly surrounded by a protective sphere of blue energy, and the impact of the Magnum Loaders is harmless. In fact, they both bounce back into the walls, disintegrating.

The knight checks that there are no turns up ahead, then listens for another Heartless attack. One’s coming up on her right, this one white instead of red. It pulls up beside her and she charges, but it manages to slip past her attack.

Grunting frustratedly, she attempts another forward charge, but the Magnum Loader practically dances away from that one as well. She momentarily puts her attack strategy on the backburner when she’s forced to swerve right, then left only a few feet later. The Magnum Loader manages to keep pace with her the entire way.

Seeing that she’s on a long stretch, Azlyn tries one last charge, only to be foiled again. Frustrated, she whips her hand back to grab the edge of her shield. With a grunt of effort and anger she hurls it at the Heartless, which is still recovering from swerving away from her charge. It runs right into the spinning shield, quickly sustaining enough damage to disrupt its code. It vanishes as the shield flies immediately back into Azlyn’s hands.

“Hey, way to go Az!” Sora cheers from the observation platform. By now Telary has recovered enough to at least stand and watch, though he does have to fearfully cover his eyes every few seconds. “Man, Telary, she’s really kicking those guys’ butts! Well, they actually don’t really _have_ butts, so I guess she’s kicking their bumpers…?”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, Sora,” the wizard interrupts as politely as possible. “But honestly it isn’t that helpful.”

“Sorry.”

Back in the arena, Azlyn simultaneously charges into a shielded Heartless while hurling her shield at another in the opposite direction. Both enemies go down, but as her shield returns she wobbles slightly, nearly colliding with the wall herself. She adjusts, then barely has a moment to execute another swift turn left.

That seems to be it for the course, as suddenly the walls fall away and the light cycle coasts to a stop in front of the viewport. Sora cheers loudly at his companion’s victory, and Telary lets out a breath he feels he’s been holding for years.

“Oh yeah, who’s bad?” Azlyn declares, pumping her fists (and two prominently displayed fingers) into the air. “Is that all you got, Sark? Would ya like some more? Huh? _Are you not entertained!?!_ ”

“IT SEEMS THAT I HAVE UNDERESTIMATED YOU, USER,” Sark admits, though there’s no denying the ominous tone in his every amplified word. “BUT I ASSURE YOU, I WILL NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AGAIN. PREPARE FOR ROUND TWO!”

The light cycle _thrum_ s to life underneath Azlyn, and with gritted teeth she takes off once again. Up in their observation post, Telary and Sora settle in to watch their companion brave danger once again. Well, Sora settles. Telary’s whole body goes twice as tense as before.

Down in the arena, Azlyn notices that for this round she seems to have more control of the cycle, and that there are no walls springing up around her. She spares a suspicious glance at the control panel, and finds the _charge_ and _shield_ commands of before replaced with a single glowing word: _trail_.

She barely has time to contemplate the possible function of such a button before she hears a Magnum Loader coming up from behind. She swerves to the side to get a visual on her opponent, and what she sees nearly startles her off the vehicle.

The Magnum Loader is coming up on her alright, but behind it follows a trail of red light, eerily reminiscent of the deadly walls of round one. The Heartless swerves left, then goes for a hard right turn, straight for the female User.

It overtakes her and makes another swerve, which she only barely matches. She reaches for the _charge_ button on reflex, but of course that’s gone. Instead, her finger finds itself pressing down on _trail_.

Suddenly blue light bursts from the tail of her cycle, forming two parallel lines running across the surface of the arena. Azlyn grins, finally understanding the point of this part of the game.

She goes left and her opponent goes right, but after only a few feet she swerves once again, gunning her cycle all the way back to where she’d turned before. In her peripheral vision, she can see the Heartless pulling the same maneuver, though it doesn’t manage to do so with her speed.

Reaching her destination, it’s another sharp swerve right, gunning the engine and forming a _V_ of light. The Magnum Loader turns to watch her but it’s too late, and suddenly the Heartless finds itself trapped in a deadly prison of light. It makes an attempt to swerve away from the upcoming blue wall, but that only manages to make the impact a few feet higher up against the plane. It explodes, defeated.

“I thought you were trying to give me a challenge, Sark?” Azlyn calls up, over the sound of Sora hooting joyously from the platform. Telary doesn’t bother, fully prepared for something even worse to occur.

He’s not wrong.

“IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’VE WON THE GAME, USER,” Sark admits venomously.

“Heck yeah I have!” Azlyn retorts, feeling good about herself.

“IT’S ONLY TOO UNFORTUNATE,” Sark announces with a sadistic chuckle, “THAT I’M SOMETHING OF A SORE LOSER.”

The knight barely has time for a “Huh?” before the light cycle activates with no warning, speeding forward. Azlyn hurtles backwards, landing hard on the grid-floor of the arena.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Sora demands, he and Telary’s platform slowly lowering back down to ground level.

“He just told us, Sora,” Telary points out quietly, his entire being on edge. “He’s cheating.”

Magnum Loaders begin to appear all over the arena, each one an angry red color. All of them seem intently focused on the trio.

A distance of perhaps two hundred feet separates Azlyn from the boys, and it’s clear that the Heartless are intent on her not crossing a single one of them. Unfortunately for them, Azlyn’s intent is to get across, and it takes a _very_ strong desire to go up against Azlyn’s desire and succeed.

Or, in the case of the Heartless, to even _survive_.

Azlyn dodges around the one-wheeled creatures, and across the field her companions do the same, the trio fighting their way towards each other with incredible determination and strength.

They meet in the middle, forming a triangle that allows each of them enough room to maneuver against the Heartless, defeating a dozen in all.

“Any ideas about how we’re gonna get out of here?” Sora asks, slashing another Magnum Loader in half. The field of enemies is clearing, but clearly Sark won’t stop until all three are de-rezzed.

“THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO EXIT THE ARENA, USER TRASH,” Sark declares from on high. “IN _BITS_!”

With a huge flash, a hulking purple Devastator arrives on the field. Its cannon is already aimed while energy gathers at its mouth. It fires a single shot, and the heroes scatter.

The shot continues past them and hits the arena wall, impacting against the solid construction and leaving a huge crack in it. Raising his head, Sora can just barely make out the world outside the arena.

“We’ve got an opening!” he calls to his team, rising quickly. “It’s kind of a sprint, but we can make it! Tel, lay down some cover for us.”

The wizard doesn’t even need to respond verbally. Raising his staff, he calls upon the most powerful technique he knows.

“Gravira!” he yells, and suddenly a half sphere of black force descends on the bulky Heartless, crushing its weight in upon itself.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary take off, each giving their all as they strive for the goal. Sora and Azlyn surge ahead quickly, but Telary’s long legs keep him only half a step behind at all times.

Finally they reach the breach, ducking through the several feet thick wall of digital stone to get to the other side.

Which happens to be the edge of a very high cliff.

“Oh,” Sora states plainly. “This isn’t good.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Azlyn agrees with a sigh.

The sound of Heartless warping in kicks up a few feet away, and the trio turns to see Sark advancing along the ledge to them, flanked by two Strafers, several others following along behind him. The program looks sadistically pleased.

“You managed to put up quite the fight, Users,” the commander mock-congratulates, smirking evilly. “No program has ever managed to get this far before.” His expression softens microscopically. “But it matters little. The time has come, I think, to end our little…”

A howl of wind rises up suddenly from somewhere, accompanied by a dull _thrum_ that almost sounds like the Gummi ship’s engine.

It turns out that isn’t too far off, as suddenly a red Recognizer clears the game grid’s wall, mostly. The bottom of its legs scrape against the barrier with just the slightest bump.

“What is the meaning of this?” Sark gasps, looking up and taking several steps back in shock.

The Recognizer swings around, putting the long rectangle of its cockpit within easy jumping distance of the trio. Looking through the viewport, Sora sees Tron at the helm, fiddling with the controls rather haphazardly.

Sark spies the security program as well, scowling. With a grunt of annoyance, he sends the Strafers forward once more.

There’s a sudden loud, harsh blare from the craft’s speaker system, and everyone flinches at the noise, even the Heartless. A second later, a door slides open on the cockpit’s face.

It’s not hard for the trio to determine what they’re meant to do, and quickly all three launch themselves across the small gap and into the Recognizer.

“Alright Tron!” Sora cheers the piloting security program. “Way to go with the rescue.”

“I could’ve done without that horn, though,” Azlyn comments, batting at her ear with a grimace.

“I apologize, I was actually attempting to open the door,” Tron says, a hint sheepishly. “I’m afraid my piloting subroutines were among the functions the MCP took away from me. It’s rather improbable I even got this far.”

“But you tried, Tron,” Sora says with a cheery grin. “That’s what’s important.”

The entire vessel suddenly shakes, and Azlyn swivels her gaze to outside the viewport, where the Strafers have begun firing at the Recognizer. Individually the rings of green laser don’t do much, but enough together will soon take their toll.

“Well, now could you ‘try’ to get us out of here?” the knight roars.

Tron nods and grips the steering yoke, pulling back to send the ship into a full reverse. Once they’ve got adequate distance, the program pushes forward and up. The legs barely clear the cliff face, but as an unexpected bonus they manage to knock back a few Strafers. Then it’s a wide turn right, back out into the open air.

Every movement shakes the shuttle, and soon the trio are looking around desperately for a place to stabilize themselves.

“Uh, why aren’t there any seats on this craft?” Telary asks, stumbling about as Tron accidentally pushes for more speed.

“The pilot station has a g-force dampening field,” he explains. “And usually Recognizers aren’t used for passenger transport.”

“Translation: Hold on,” Azlyn mumbles, reaching back to brace herself against a wall.

“There’s something that doesn’t make sense to me,” Tron says suddenly, gazing forward as he attempts to remain as stable as possible. “You did manage to find the password, correct?” All three Users nod affirmatively. “Then why did you return to the computer system when you could have just transmitted the data?”

Azlyn and Sora immediately turn to Telary, who looks thoughtful for a moment. Realizing his mistake, the expression turns embarrassed.

“Oh, I suppose we _could_ have done that,” he admits. “I must have forgotten. Probably too dazzled by the idea of a world within a computer.”

“So where are we headed now, Tron?” Sora asks, reaching up to stabilize himself.

“Since you’ve got that password, we’ll be heading for the dataspace,” the security program answers. “That’s where we can access the DTD with minimal risk of detection.”

“How minimal is minimal?” Telary asks curiously.

“About eighty-two percent.”

Azlyn scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Sounds great.”

“You sure seem a lot different than the last time we saw you Tron,” Sora says observationally. “That’s the first time you’ve given us a percentage.”

“I don’t really understand it much myself,” the program admits. “My personality data should have all been contained in what the MCP stole, but it seems that since I encountered you it is as if it’s coming back on its own.”

“I guess we bring out the best in you, Tron,” the Keybearer quips.

The security program doesn’t get the chance to respond to that, as suddenly something on the Recognizer’s control panel beeps. Everyone is suddenly concerned.

“This could be trouble,” Tron states before any of the Users can ask. “The radar is picking up several other Recognizers converging on our position. It’s unlikely that my rudimentary piloting data will be of any use.”

“Let Telary take the wheel!” Azlyn suggests, giving her boyfriend a quick wink. “My man can fly anything!”

“I, uh, guess I could give it a shot,” the wizard relents, stepping up as Tron moves aside. For a moment the Recognizer is completely still, Telary studying its controls intensely. “Well, we don’t have any weapons, so it won’t be a firefight.” He grips the yokes grimly. “I guess I’ll just have to outfly them.”

“That’s unlikely,” Tron says matter-of-factly. “In the open air the chance of escape doesn’t even break ten percent.”

“What about not-open air?” Sora asks, leaning to look out the viewport. “There’s some kind of trench down there. We could lose them in that.”

“It _is_ statistically likely that the pilots’ programs won’t be able to maneuver adequately,” Tron admits. “Unfortunately, our own odds of successfully navigating a trench like that are…”

“Please don’t tell me the odds,” Telary pleads, already angling down for the trench below. “I’m nervous enough as it is.”

And he only manages to become moreso. Suddenly a disk of orange energy flies past, barely missing the craft.

“They’re firing at us!” Sora declares, a bit obviously. “I thought these Recognizers didn’t have weapons!”

“The newer models do,” Tron says. “But unfortunately I was only able to grab an older model that was under less heavy guard.”

“Great,” Telary deadpans, pulling into the canyon. The path is wide, but sharp spikes of digital rock shoot up and out all along it, making maneuvering rather tight. Gritting his teeth, Telary goes into full pilot mode, blocking out all distractions to focus completely on his task. He even manages to slow his heart rate.

He dips underneath a nearly horizontal spike, and only moments later another enemy laser disc impacts against it. He pulls up and to the left, missing another protrusion. With a relatively safe stretch ahead, the wizard finally has time to reach down and flick on the back camera. It should greatly help to be wary of enemy fire.

Unfortunately he cannot watch both the screen and viewport simultaneously, and he barely looks up in time to avoid another spike. He swerves right quickly, but there’s a loud _thump_ of impact. The passengers stumble about the cabin until they can brace themselves again.

“Sorry!” the pilot apologizes, pulling up above another obstacle.

“Don’t be,” Azlyn says, staring into the back-camera monitor. “Look!”

Sora stumbles forward just in time to see the pursuing Recognizer, apparently locked on somehow to Telary’s maneuvers, attempt the same sharp turn. It isn’t quick enough however, and the blow it receives its hardly glancing. The craft hits the rock head on and explodes in a burst of red bits and bytes.

“Whoo!” Azlyn cries triumphantly, punching the air with gusto. “That’s one down, one to go! Didn’t I tell you my man can fly anything?” Suddenly, the girl looks thoughtful. “Huh. He can fly anything, and I can _drive_ anything.” She grins heartily. “King of the Sky and Queen of the Road, that’s us!”

“Uh, I hate to break up the crowning, Your Majesty,” Sora interrupts sardonically, “but where’s the other Recognizer?”

That question gets answered soon enough, as the Recognizer clears one last spike and is suddenly facing the open end of the trench. And the enemy Recognizer hovering just beyond it.

“That’s bad!” Azlyn understates.

“It’s going to fire on us!” Tron declares, a trace of fear in his voice.

“Pull down, pull down!” Sora screams into his older companion’s ear.

Telary, so far in pilot mode there might as well not be anyone else in the cockpit, does something a bit more unorthodox. The enemy fires its disc, aimed at the crown of the cockpit. The heroes’ ship doesn’t waver, and instead Telary reaches out and flips a single switch:

The cockpit height controls.

With a jerk that throws everyone else off their feet, the cockpit begins lowering itself down the red legs. It just barely makes it halfway before the laser disc arrives, but the distance is enough that the deadly energy flies straight past, shooting straight through the legs like a blitzball through a net.

With another flick, Telary returns the cockpit to its rightful position. He begins pulling up as it rises up the legs again, and by the time the enemy is ready for another shot, they’re over it. Literally.

Once the heroes’ legs are lined up with their enemy’s cockpit, Telary jerks them down, crashing straight through the roof of the recognizer and squishing the pilot program within flatter than a pancake.

“And that’s how you do that!” Azlyn crows, thumping Telary on the back hard enough to shock him out of pilot mode.

“It isn’t far to the dataspace,” Tron says, looking over the monitor again. “We should be there in a few… minutes, I believe.”

**KH-KH-KH**

They land the Recognizer in a small clearing, then Tron leads the rest of the way to the dataspace. A short path over open air leads them to a door hidden in the recesses of red digital stone.

The dataspace itself the brightest place the trio has yet encountered in the system, neon green blocks of data moving back and forth over each other in rows. A path leads to a platform, all hovering over a seemingly endless abyss.

Tron goes straight for a large holographic keyboard, the symbols on it baffling even Telary. The security program isn’t fazed, however, immediately tapping a few buttons to bring up a huge square screen. Text begins rolling across it, too fast for User eyes to follow.

“All right, it’s ready,” Tron says, looking happier than the trio has ever seen him. “All I need now is the password.”

“Okay,” Azlyn says, already dying to get out of this eye-aching hole. “Jasmine, Belle, uh…”

“Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, Alice…” Telary continues, counting the princesses off on his fingers as he goes.

“Kairi,” Sora says in a small voice. It’s a good thing Tron’s audio receptors are able to pick it up, because he’s not sure that he’d be able to get it out again.

“Okay, that should do it,” Tron says, typing in one last command. The computer beeps, which seems like a confirmation.

“ _DTD activating, switching from hibernation mode to active status,_ ” an electronic voice announces, its tone pleasant in a dull sort of way. For a few moments it says nothing, words replaced by an odd humming.

“What’s going on?” Sora asks curiously. “Did everything go okay? Did the password work? Do you have your memories back, Tron?”

“Sora, please,” Telary admonishes his younger companion. “You’ve got to be patient. These things can take time.”

“Yeah,” Azlyn chimes in, mockingly. “Learn a little patience.” No one in the room has the heart to point out the inherent hypocrisy of her statement.

“ _DTD prepared for access,_ ” the computer voice chimes in once again. “ _You may submit your information request when ready._ ”

Tron immediately begins typing, searching for the backup copy of his memory file. It doesn’t take long to pull it up. Pressing another button, he activates a circular scanner next to the keyboard. Reaching behind his back, he pulls out a small disc.

“What’s that?” Sora asks.

“This is my identity disc,” Tron explains, turning it over in his hands. “It contains most of my core systems and functions, including memory. Without it I’d be nothing but mindless data. In addition, it helps me with what you Users would call combat.”

“So a weapon,” Azlyn muses, a small smirk playing across her lips. “And here I thought all you were good for was dumb percentages.”

Tron ignores the implied insult, placing the disc on the scanner. He taps one more button, and suddenly the scanner begins to glow, and the identity disc as well. The process lasts a minute, and _dings_ once as the upload completes. Tron reaches out almost reverently to grab the disc off the scanner. After giving it one final lookover, he attaches it to his back plate once more.

The reaction is immediate, the security program suddenly glowing all over. His body shakes, and Sora moves to help out. Telary stops the Keybearer with an outstretched arm. The glow expands beyond Tron’s body, then dies completely. Tron collapses on one knee.

“Tron?” Sora asks, stepping past Telary to stand before his digital friend. “Are you oaky buddy?”

Tron looks up at Sora, and a smile spreads across his face. He rises, looking extremely pleased.

“I feel like new again!” the program explains happily, looking himself over in awe. “With my functions repaired, it’s finally time to take the fight to the MCP!”

“Yeah!” Sora cheers, his companions letting out joyful cries as well.

A sudden alarm cuts them off. The noise is nearly deafening, and everyone in the dataspace covers their ears in pain and shock. Through the pain, Telary notices the keyboard go red.

The entire room follows, the floating blocks changing colors and morphing into huge faces. They all peer down at the group.

“ **Finally, I have access to the Door to Darkness** ,” the evil program gloats. “ **Logic dictated that if you were stripped of your memories you would attempt to retrieve a backup, so I placed a virus in your identity disc. You played right into my trap, foolish program.** ”

Tron scowls. “I should have seen this coming! How could I be so foolish?”

“It’s not your fault, Tron,” Sora assures the security program, patting him comfortingly on the back.

“ **It seems there are plenty of useful programs stored within this database** ,” the MCP declares smugly. For a computer program, it has certainly mastered the art of being mean. “ **I’ve even managed to find a self-destruct protocol for the castle above. The resulting blast would certainly destroy the User settlement as well. That could prove interesting…** ”

“Not if I have anything to say about it, ya digital bastard!” Azlyn roars, rushing forward and slamming both fists onto the keyboard. The hologram shakes, and suddenly its original blue color returns.

“Good work Azlyn!” Tron congratulates the knight, stepping up to the keyboard. “You gave me back control of the dataspace.”

The knight shrugs. “Just like I planned… I think.”

Tron’s fingers begin moving too fast to follow. The trio has no idea if any of it is working, but it’s certainly an impressive feat to behold.

“ **What have you done?** ” the MCP demands, perturbed suddenly. “ **If you think changing the password will save the pitiful User settlement, think again. Mark my words, I will find a way to destroy that town!** ”

Suddenly the blocks return to their original neon green, the menacing face of the MCP vanishing. The Users look to Tron for more information.

“I managed to keep the self-destruct out of the MCP’s hands,” Tron says, and the trio breathe a huge sigh of relief. “But I fear there are many other things he can still try.”

“Like what?” Telary asks.

“This system was on an isolated network, completely cut off from the rest of the town network,” the program explains. “And my User, Ansem, made sure to disable all of the system’s I/O towers to prevent any leakage.” Here his expression turns grim. “But there was another, hidden tower that he kept active, just in case. I’m afraid the DTD gave the MCP the location of that tower. No doubt he’ll attempt to upload a hostile program to the main network.”

“What does that mean?” Azlyn asks.

“Bad things,” Telary says, biting his lip nervously as he thinks over the possibilities. “At the very least he could overtake the town’s defense network, turn it against the citizens. He could also shut off water, power…”

“Okay, so this hostile program is bad news,” Sora interrupts, not wishing to hear any more suggestions of Hollow Bastion’s possible horrible fate. “Can we stop it?”

Tron nods. “We’ll need to go to the I/O tower and take down the program ourselves before it reaches its output functions.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Azlyn declares, punching a fist into her open palm. “Let’s go!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Luckily Tron’s returned memories include a trick to increase Recognizer speed, and the heroes manage to reach the I/O tower, hidden within a small canyon, before their enemies.

But not by much.

“Look!” Sora points out as the group clambers out of their Recognizer. Following the Keybearer’s finger, they see another Recognizer coming in for a landing.

They rush inside quickly, right into a huge circular atrium, the ceiling at least twenty feet tall. There seems to be only one way to go from here, an open arch that leads into a long hallway. Four large half-circle stairs lead up to it.

“The communication room is in there,” Tron explains. “That’s where the program can upload itself to the main system. We’ll make our stand here, keep it out.”

“Yes, you certainly will,” the unmistakable voice of Sark declares. “Your _last_ stand.”

The evil program strides confidently into the atrium, hands clasped behind his back. Hovering at his side is a huge, bulbous thing covered in spiked armor. A single upside down diamond reveals three glowing eyes in a field of black. Its arms are violet tubes with three black and red fingers each.

“That’s what _you_ think, Sark!” Tron rebuts, scowling at his enemy.

“Why must you insist on fighting for these pitiful Users?” Sark asks, exasperated. “Do you forget that it was the Users who abandoned us? For a dozen cycles we were alone, cut off without warning. When the MCP arrived, it seemed that we finally had a chance at a perfect system. Yet still you fought. Still you foolishly believed in the Users!”

“I believed in a better way than the MCP’s iron control,” Tron says back defiantly. “And I believed that the Users would return to show us that way, so our system could work in harmony with theirs. I… I had hope!”

“ _Hope_?” Sark spits like a curse. “I see the return of your memories has also seen a resurgence of your pitiful User notions. Hope is illogical, irrational, and has no place in an orderly system.” His eyes narrow, and the commander steps back, gesturing the hostile program forward. “And neither do you.”

The hostile program hovers into the circle, and suddenly thick walls spring up around it, trapping the heroic quartet inside with it. One wall remains transparent, and Sark watches through it with a satisfied smirk.

The hostile program rockets forward, pointing its arms backwards and thrusting forward with a burst of energy. The heroes scatter, rolling to the side and turning to face the enemy once more.

Its arms flip around, and suddenly long cones of blue energy appear, swooping towards Tron and the Users like deadly laser pointers. They dodge, jumping, rolling, and sliding away from the lethal energy.

Sora manages to dodge and move forward at the same time, and once he’s close enough the Keybearer rises to his feet and slams the weapon in his hand home. It hits the program’s armor and bounces off, like a bird hitting a screen door.

He grunts negatively, then just barely manages to duck away as the laser sweeps over his head once again.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Azlyn rushes forward and hurls her shield. Unfortunately I proves as ineffective as Sora’s blade. So too does Tron’s identity disc. Telary dodges a laser and unleashes a burst of fire, but it only succeeds in scorching the plating.

“It seems I was right again, Tron,” Sark gloats from behind his protective barrier. “I ask again, why do you insist on aiding the Users? What makes you think their way is better than the MCP’s?”

“Because they rescued me when no one else was able to,” Tron says, grunting as he avoids another pass of the laser. He hurls his identity disc, but there’s still no effect. “Because they accepted my request for help without being offered anything in return. Because, well, because they’re…”

“Because we’re your friends, Tron!” Sora declares, sweeping Azlyn out of the way of a laser. “Friends always help each other out, no matter what!”

“I wish we had some more friends now,” Azlyn declares, flipping over certain doom for what seems like the hundredth time. “I can’t get through that armor, not with my toughest attacks.”

“Neither can I,” Sora admits. Suddenly an idea hits him, and he grins as the knight lands next to him. “Not alone.”

Struck with a moment of perfect serendipity, Azlyn lights up as well. She holds out her hand. “But together…”

“We can!”

The warriors clasp hands, the strongest memories of their friendship flashing before their eyes in a millisecond as the two become one.

Red light flushes out the blue in Sora’s digital form, deeper and darker than the near-orange of Sark’s lines. His left hand flashes with light, the Keyblade Oathkeeper appearing in it.

“Alright, program,” he declares, the slightest hint of Azlyn’s voice in the words, “let’s dance!”

He charges, legs moving swiftly across the small space. The hostile program sweeps its beams towards him, two parallel horizontal bars of deadly light, but the fused Keybearer and knight simply jumps up and twists his body, diving between the lethal lasers. He lands and charges again, jumping up to settle atop the program’s bulbous head.

He gives the Keyblades a single flourishing twirl, then stabs them through the armor as if it’s made of mere paper. Setting his jaw, the young hero begins to pull, slowly but surely prying the plates apart.

The program freaks, spinning and dipping in a mad attempt to dislodge the hero. But Sora simply digs in, anchored by the blades he has stabbed into his opponent’s head.

With a last effortless pull the plates separate, clattering to the digital floor before disappearing in a burst of code.

The aggressive program lets out an electronic scream, twisting violently enough that, with his blades no longer embedded in its body, Sora can’t stay on any longer. He hits the ground and bounces, separating midair back into two individuals with a burst of light. Both Azlyn and Sora land hard on the floor.

“You did it!” Telary cheers, thrusting a victorious fist into the air. “We should be able to take it down now!”

“Please,” Tron says, his identity disc reared back and glowing with a pure white light, “allow me!” The security program hurls his weapon forward, striking his hostile counterpart dead center.

Flashes of white appear throughout the hostile program like cracks in a mirror, and with a burst of brilliant light, it scatters into fragments of harmless code. The heroes duck, and when they stand once again the barriers are gone. So too is Sark.

“What, we don’t even get an ‘I’ll get of you next time’?” Telary says mockingly, shaking his head in disappointment. “These program villains really lack the panache of the flesh and blood kind.”

“He _will_ be back again, though,” Tron declares, sounding resigned. “Luckily, I should be able to find another location to transfer this tower to. Somewhere that will be a little harder to find, and _not_ in the DTD.”

“I kind of hate to ask, Tron,” Sora begins, cautiously approaching the security program as Azlyn enthusiastically tackles Telary to the ground behind him, “but it sounded like you and Sark have kind of a history.”

Tron grimaces, but nods. “Yes, we do. You see, Sark used to be a security program like me. He adopted Ansem as his User just as I did, and all three of us worked together to improve the system. But then one day Ansem was gone, no explanation given. eventually the MCP showed up. Sark weighed the MCP’s vision against mine and the Users’… And he made his choice.”

“That sounds terrible, Tron,” Sora says sympathetically, laying a hand on his digital friend’s shoulder.

The security program peers down at the friendly display of affection with a trace of confusion, and Sora immediately removes his hand. Apparently there are some things about friendship Tron still needs to learn.

“We should probably go,” Telary says, standing up and brushing himself off. “We told King Mickey we’d be back as soon as we got Tron the password.”

“And I don’t care what he said,” Azlyn chimes in, smoothing out her skirt, “I can’t help but be afraid he’s gonna take off again.”

Tron nods, starting up the steps further into the tower. “The console in the communication’s room should be able to return you to the User world.”

They walk down a long hallway into another circular room. A small round pedestal stands in its exact center, beneath a large hole that looks out to the sky. Tron moves to the console along one side of the room, taps in a few commands, and suddenly a white column of light shoots up and out.

“I feel kinda bad about leaving you here all alone, Tron,” Sora admits, guiltily rubbing at his hair.

The program gives him a smile in return, turning away from the console. “Don’t worry about it. Now that all of my functions are restored, I can finally start to take back the system from the MCP. That’s what my User would want.”

 _What_ Ansem _would want_ , Sora thinks to himself, grimacing at the thought of such an evil man being looked up to by such a good program as Tron.

“Uh, about that,” the Keybearer says, fighting to keep from stuttering. “Listen Tron, we didn’t actually get that DTD password from your User. We just kind of found it, actually. Y’see, the thing about Ansem is… Well, he was kinda…”

“He was our enemy,” Azlyn finishes boldly, frowning at her memories of the man controlling the Heartless.

Tron nods, his face impassive. “Well, to tell you the truth… He’s mine too.”

“How do you mean?” Telary asks, one eyebrow raised curiously. Azlyn and Sora just exchange confused looks.

“Ansem was the one who copied this system from ENCOM, and then he customized it to suit his needs,” the security program explains. “He modified me, and Sark as well, and that’s why we consider him our User. Now, as I said before, the MCP wasn’t part of the initial transfer, it remained inactive. Only Ansem could have rebooted it, given it the control it has over this system.” He sighs heavily. “The Ansem I know wouldn’t have done that.”

“Well,” Sora declares, throwing up his hands in exasperation, “now I _really_ don’t get it!”

“I’m glad we met you Tron,” Telary says, smiling at the program. “But man have you opened up a confusing can of worms.”

Tron shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m having trouble computing it myself.” He gives the trio a warm smile, his most human expression yet. “But I think if anyone can solve the riddle, it’s you Users. You seem to have the innate ability to take wildly illogical routes and still arrive at the conclusions you’re looking for. It’s uncanny, really.”

“We try,” Azlyn states, chuckling along with her companions.

Tron becomes resolute once again, and he kneel back down to the terminal, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “Now you have to hurry up and leave, or the MCP will try something else. I’ll keep a dedicated access channel open for you, put up the best firewalls I can.”

Sora begins to open his mouth, a questioning look on his face, but Telary cuts him off. “He’ll make sure there’s still a link between our worlds, so we can come back here if we need to.”

“And access the DTD,” Tron adds. “With the new password, the MCP won’t be able to drain off any files.”

“So what’s the new password?” Sora asks, whispering just in case.

Tron gives the Users another brilliant smile. “My new friends.”

**KH-KH-KH**

In a bright flash, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary return once more to the computer room. Leon is already there, blocking the console’s screen from view.

“I guess you guys managed to keep your promise, huh?” the gunblade wielder says, turning his head and giving them a half-smirk.

He moves to the side, revealing the brightly lit screen of Ansem's computer. The words THANK YOU flash across it in blocky blue letters, and above the words are three eight-bit representations the trio find very familiar.

Themselves.

Sora smiles at the display, but he can’t help but worry about Tron. The security program seems to have a major uphill battle ahead of him.

“Hang in there, Tron.”


	32. The Imposter

Sora approaches the computer console quickly, eager to see if the DTD holds any useful data. Telary stops him however, moving to the console himself. Pressing the SPACE key with his thumb, the wizard dismisses Tron’s congratulatory sprites.

“So, what now?” Leon asks, approaching the computer with his arms folded. “Can you access the DTD?”

“Sure can,” Telary mumbles, too busy inputting the password.

“Go ahead and get started,” Leon instructs the redhead, watching as the DTD opens itself up to the group. “Quistis called and said that she needs to see me over at the bailey. We’re just gonna check out what that last shakeup did, so I’ll be back soon.” He turns and walks away, then pauses and throws the trio an ambivalent look over his shoulder. “I _can_ trust you three to not have any more mishaps, right?”

“Yes, Leon,” all three answer at once, sounding resigned to the scrutiny. After all, it isn’t like they haven’t earned it.

“Good.” With that settled, the Restoration Committee chairman makes his exit.

“So, is that the DTD?” Sora asks as he approaches Telary. The screen is mostly just a light blue color, with the pale black DTD logo in the corner.

Telary looks to the top left corner, finding a small tab button. Using the touchpad below the keyboard, he selects it, and suddenly a long list scrolls out. It’s clear that the two dozen or so options are just a tiny fraction, all the screen’s size will allow.

“Wow, is that all the stuff that’s in here?” Azlyn asks, elbowing Sora aside for a better position. “How are we supposed to sort out the useful stuff from what’s just boring science crap?”

Telary almost says something indignant about the “boring science crap” statement, but ultimately thinks better of it. Instead, he just indicates the search bar.

“Are you sure we won’t find anything about Riku and Kairi?” Sora asks the wizard, biting his lip nervously.

Telary shakes his head. “No, nothing that will help us find them now, at least.”

“What about us?” Azlyn suddenly chimes in, earning the boys’ full attention. “With all this talk about the past and how Hollow Bastion used to be, it’s got me wondering about something Minnie said last year.”

“What?” Telary asks, wracking his brain for a memory.

“When she told us about how the king took us to Disney Castle,” the knight elaborates frustratedly. “She said that after Kairi went missing, when she went to Destiny Islands, the king and Ansem decided it would be best to take Telary to the castle.”

“I remember now!” Telary exclaims, nodding thoughtfully. “I suppose it’s worth a shot.” Leaning forward, the wizard types he and his counterpart’s names into the search bar.

A wheel pops up in the center of the screen, a white line whirling around inside it like a fan blade. After a moment, two lines of white text pop up in a blue box.

“Two results?” Azlyn remarks, frowning. “Gee, you’d think that we’d merit a little more than that!”

Telary clicks on the first line, ignoring his girlfriend for the moment. A green box pops up next to the blue one, full of text.

“Despite their relation,” Telary reads aloud, his companions crowding in curiously, “it seems that Telary’s heart does not contain the same Light energy signature observed in Kairi. Reviewing what family history we have on file, it seems as this is an entirely unheard of anomaly.”

“Light signature?” Sora questions. “Do you think he means Kairi being a Princess of Heart?”

“That’s probably it. Let me try something.” Telary closes the green window and goes back to the search box, typing in a new query.

“Kairi Light Signature,” Azlyn reads over his shoulder.

Another blue box pops up, this one with only a single file. Telary clicks on it, revealing a photocopied page full of charts, graphs, and other pictures none of the trio really understand. Azlyn and Sora watch in dumbfounded silence as Telary begins to scroll down, through page after page of scientific analyses. When he reaches the bottom, he reads a paragraph beneath the underlined heading Conclusion.

“The signature given off by Kairi’s heart exists almost completely outside the spectrum,” the wizard narrates quickly. “It seems to be True Light, untainted by Darkness in the slightest. Perhaps with this True Light I could truly protect my subjects from the Darkness. To that end I have created a program that can detect the unique signature of these hearts without Darkness. Perhaps this girl is but one in a coming wave of pure hearts, which may banish the Darkness forever.”

“Well, that’s not what I expected,” Azlyn comments. “From what I remember, this guy was all about creating and controlling Darkness. Why would he want the Darkness banished?”

“It seems like Ansem was a lot more complex than we thought,” Telary declares, placing his hands on either side of the keyboard and leaning forward. “Or, y’know, maybe he was just as nuts as Azlyn suggests.”

“Hey, what about that other file that popped up when we searched you guys?” Sora chimes in. “Maybe it has another clue.”

Telary closes the scientific analysis and brings the blue search results box up again. This time, he clicks on the second file down.

“A picture?” Azlyn points out, peering down at the screen.

It is indeed that, a widescreen snapshot of a beautiful summer’s day in a bright garden. Three children and two adults sit around a checkered blanket. Azlyn and Telary immediately recognize their younger selves, and Sora remembers what Kairi looked like at that age very well.

“That’s grandma,” Telary says, pointing to an older woman in purple, “and that’s… Well, I have no idea.”

Sitting next to Kairi and Telary’s grandma is a distinguished looking older man, long blond hair reflecting the light of the sun. His smile is genuine, surrounded by a goatee and mustache. He wears a long white lab coat, and some kind of red scarf draped over his shoulders.

“He does seem kind of familiar, though,” Azlyn admits. After a moment she shrugs and adds, “I mean, of course he does, we have the photographic proof that we knew him right here.”

“Must have been a friend of Kairi’s grandma,” is all Sora has to offer.

“Well,” the cheery voice of Mickey Mouse suddenly enters the room, “I see you got things up and running again. Good job!”

The trio turn to face the mouse king, still dressed in his black coat. He’s smiling up at them, but they can only offer frowns back.

“Unfortunately, just because we have this new information doesn’t know we have any idea what it means,” Telary sighs, shaking his head sadly.

“Yeah, we read some stuff that kind of went against what we thought we knew,” Sora adds, stepping aside. “And now we’ve got this picture with some guy we don’t know.”

Mickey looks up at the screen, and immediately his eyes light up. “Oh boy!”

“Yeah, I know I was cute as a little kid,” Azlyn says with a smile, “but the more important thing is…”

“It’s not that, Azlyn,” Mickey says dismissively. “Though I admit you were real cute. No, I’m talking about that picture of Ansem the Wise!”

The control booth is silent for a long minute, the trio just staring down at Mickey with concerned expressions.

“Just how tight have you been wearing that hood, Your Majesty?” Azlyn asks the king, breaking the long silence.

“What?” Mickey asks for clarification’s sake, taking a step backward in shock.

“You’re teasing us again,” Sora declares, still frowning. “With all due respect, it’s kind of not funny right now.”

“Did you forget what Ansem looked like?” Telary asks, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Of course I know what he looks like!” Mickey protests, his tiny fists clenched in frustration. “And I know that _this_ is… Hey!”

Ignoring all rules of decorum and interaction with royalty, Sora grabs the king by the shoulder and begins dragging him out of the control booth, headed back for the study. After a moment spent giving each other hesitant looks, Azlyn and Telary follow along.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” Mickey complains, squirming in Sora’s grip as they reach Ansem's private office. Finally the journey stops, and Sora whirls the mouse king around to face the portrait of his nemesis.

“Take a good look, Your Majesty,” Sora says, sweeping his hand over the picture. “This is Ansem. Y’know, the guy we all risked our lives to defeat. Stole my best friend’s body, wanted the universe covered in everlasting Darkness. Pretty memorable!”

Mickey looks from the portrait to Sora, then back over his shoulder to Azlyn and Telary, before letting out a deep sigh.

“Oh, yeah,” he says once he’s composed again. “I guess that’s my bad, I didn’t finish explaining everything to ya.”

“Explaining everything what?” Telary asks, his arms folded.

“Well, the thing is,” Mickey says, turning to face the kids with a serious expression, “the guy you fought, who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts, wasn’t actually Ansem.”

Silence. _Dead_ silence. The trio wouldn’t have been more shocked if a stampeding herd of unicorns had just run through the room. Mickey looks them over, concerned at their utter stillness.

“Uh, well,” the small Keyblade wielder begins rapidly clarifying, waving his hands as he quickly goes through a proper explanation, “no, no, I didn’t mean… The man you fought absolutely had to be stopped, it would have been real bad if he’d succeeded in his plan, he just wasn’t really Ansem. He was only going around telling everybody that’s who he was. And besides, it was actually the imposter’s _Heartless_ you fought.”

More silence.

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” Azlyn declares. “Every time we turn around this crap just gets more and more complicated.”

Mickey shrugs again, looking apologetic about having ever brought all this up in the first place. “Yeah, that’s how it goes kids.”

“Okay, so this real Ansem guy,” Sora says, finally having regained enough sense to speak up again, “where has he been while this other guy runs around using his name?”

The king frowns. “That’s what I’ve been wondering to. Me and Ansem were friends, but more than that, he might know more about what’s going on with the worlds and Organization XIII. They didn’t call him Ansem ‘the Wise’ for nothin’!”

“I have a question,” Telary chimes in, slightly raising his hand out of sheer habit. “This Not-Ansem's Heartless was pretty powerful, which I assume means his heart was strong. If that’s the case…?”

“Does he have a Nobody too?” Azlyn finishes for her boyfriend.

Mickey nods.

“Lemme guess, he’s the leader of Organization XIII?”

The mouse king shrugs once more. “Sure is.”

“Well, _that_ figures,” Sora sighs, crossing his arms indignantly.

“I know I’ve seen this fake Ansem before, somewhere on this world,” Mickey continues. “And I’ve seen the leader of Organization XIII twice now. Has almost the exact same face, actually.”

“That’s actually pretty nice,” Azlyn says, cracking her knuckles. “It’s not often I get to punch the same face on two different people. Not since that fight with Donald’s nephews. Well, those _fights_.”

Sora barely hears her comment, focusing completely on the picture of the man in front of him. If it weren’t for this guy, Riku and Kairi wouldn’t be…

“Oh, Your Majesty!” the Keybearer suddenly bursts out, drawing everyone’s attention. “Is, uh, is Riku with you by any chance? I figure you were the last one to see him.”

Mickey swallows almost audibly, his eyes darting back and forth to avoid Sora’s gaze. After a long moment he just turns to the picture again, his back to the spiky-haired boy.

“I’m afraid,” he finally says, his voice sounding small and utterly defeated, “that I can’t help you with that, Sora.”

Sora’s teeth clench as his heart gives a little lurch. He’d been so sure Mickey could offer a lead on Riku, and now it seems that even his best hope is unable to help.

“Are you sure, Your Majesty?” he tries again.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

“Okay, then,” Telary chimes in, stepping up to stand beside Sora. “Do you have any information on Kairi?”

“Kairi?” The king whirls on the trio with a look on his face that can only be described as alarmed. “What’s…?”

“She got taken by Organization XIII,” Sora informs him, sadness filling him once again.

“Man, can our lives suck,” Azlyn observes, shaking her head in astonishment.

“Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Mickey says, slowly and evenly. “My plan was to go see if I could find Ansem the Wise, get his help sorting out this mess. But I think that, along the way, I forgot the most important thing.”

“To floss?” Azlyn tosses out jokingly, earning a tight frown from Telary.

Mickey chuckles. “No, I’ve been managing to do that regularly. Have you?”

Telary nods proudly, while Sora and Azlyn just shrug at each other.

“Anyway, what I forgot was that helping others should always come before asking for help.”

“Wha exactly are you saying, Your Majesty?” Sora asks.

“I think it’s time the four of us teamed up,” Mickey answers, earning immediate looks of awe from the trio. “I’ll help you look for Riku and Kairi!”

“Wow, King Mickey,” Sora says incredulously. “That’s…”

Sora never gets to finish his thought, as suddenly a tremor shakes the entire room. A great _boom_ echoes through the small space, and what books haven’t already fallen to the floor take a tumble.

The portrait of Imposter Ansem begins to fall straight for King Mickey, and it’s only thanks to Azlyn’s quick reaction time that the mouse is able to avoid being crushed.

“What was that?” Sora wonders aloud, regaining his balance and preparing for another shock. Thankfully it doesn’t come.

“Do you think it had anything to do with the MCP?” Azlyn asks tentatively.

Telary shakes his head. “There’s no way he could break Tron’s password that fast. And besides, I’m pretty sure the first thing Tron did with control of the DTD was to delete that self-destruct.”

“If there’s trouble,” Mickey says, face set in determination, “then I guess we’ll have to help out our friends here first.”

Without another word, the king sprints out the open door of the study. His cloak billows behind him as he races down the hall. The trio immediately head off after him.

Well, they try. But unfortunately all three of them hit the doorway at the same time, squishing together in the tight space.

“Oh, this is just great!” Azlyn complains as all three struggle against each other. “Some heroes we are!”


	33. Orders

Eventually they sort it out, racing through the twisted corridors beneath Hollow Bastion’s castle.

“Damn it, a dead end!” Azlyn swears after about thirty seconds, faced with a pile of debris that there seems to be no way around.

“In more ways than one,” Telary observes.

Heartless spring into existence. Each one is about the size of Azlyn, resembling men in armor, their shadowy faces and yellow eyes shining through an open faceplate. Swords extend from their right arms, built in to the limb.

The Keyblade springs into existence in a flash of Light. “No problem,” Sora says confidently, crouching into his usual battle stance.

They jump in immediately, swinging hard to cut through the Heartless’ armor. Sora finds his initial swipe blocked, quickly stepping back and going for a vertical slash that manages to penetrate. To his right Azlyn blocks two swords with her shield, turns them both aside, and finishes off the Armored Knights with a sweeping kick. Telary doesn’t even bother getting in close, simply incinerating his opponent in a blast of flame.

“Those guys sure looked a lot tougher than they were!” Azlyn notes as the gang resumes their race through the castle’s underbelly.

But even as weak as they are, more and more Armored Knights appear along the trio’s journey, interrupting them for precious moments that could be spent finding out what’s going on outside.

By the time they exit the corridors they aren’t even stopping to fight, merely cutting through enemies as they make their way to summon the elevator platform. Two Wyverns swoop down to divebomb Sora just as he’s reaching the crystal, but Azlyn is quick to leap up and intercept them both. They collide with the flat of her shield, and Telary catches them with two lightning bolts on the bounce.

Sora slams his hand against the glowing orange crystal, and the platform slides down to meet them. But the Heartless keep coming, forcing Azlyn and Telary to hold the line against another company of Armored Knights.

“Come on!” Sora calls as the elevator slides to a halt. Telary knocks away a Surveillance Robot, and Azlyn kicks back a Soldier before quickly turning and jumping onto the waiting platform. Azlyn lunges out to smack the crystal again, and they’re on their way up.

“So,” the knight comments as they rise, the boys catching their breaths, “we’re thinking this is bad, right?”

Just then the elevator slams to a halt. All three heroes stumble against the impact.

“Real bad,” Sora confirms with a nod.

“What happened?” Azlyn demands, jumping up and down. All this succeeds in doing, however, is rattling the platform further. Once she realizes this, the knight stops. “Did somebody cut the power?”

“That seems most likely,” Telary confirms, examining the cage with a critical eye. “Probably power’s down across the whole city. If the Heartless are going to attack in force, they’d need the defense grid down.”

“So you think that’s it?” Sora presses, shivering as the steam usually spouting from the pipe underneath the platform dies. Obviously the power malfunction is not restricted to the elevator. “A full scale Heartless attack.”

“If they’re shutting down the defense grid, it’s gotta be damn _siege_ ,” Azlyn points out, scowling. “And here we are, stuck in this stupid elevator!” Grunting in frustration, she unleashes a harsh kick to the side of the cage.

“Azlyn, that’s not…” Telary starts to chastise his counterpart, just as the elevator platform springs back to life. This causes yet another shake, and the trio stumble about until they find footing.

“Man, even _elevators_ are afraid of Azlyn,” Sora chuckles, a little levity in an otherwise bleak moment.

The knight looks back to him with a grin, her eyes glittering. “They _better_ be!”

The elevator reaches the upper platform, coming to a gentle stop. The trio quickly disembark, rushing towards the library door.

“So why’d the power come back on?” Sora asks as they run.

“I’d guess the castle has a backup power system,” Telary posits, shoving his shoulder into the door. It gives, swinging inward a foot. “It should make this a good place to keep civilians safe, if this is some kind of siege.”

Sora’s eyes suddenly bug out. “Get down!” he yells, diving to the floor.

His companions heed the Keybearer’s warning quickly, each making their own dives as a crystal blue blade easily as large as Telary slams into the marble ground of the library floor.

Sora comes to his feet first, Keyblade springing to his hand with a thought. Just in time too, as the blade comes swinging down at him once more. He raises his weapon to block, and the impact of the huge sword nearly numbs his arms entirely.

Looking up, he sees that it’s connected to an armored Heartless so tall its head nearly scrapes the ceiling. It looks very similar to the smaller Armored Knights, only huge and with two swords, one at the end of each arm.

With a grunt, Sora attempts to push the blade off, but it doesn’t budge. The creature is simply too strong. The Keybearer makes another attempt, too focused to see the second blade rising into the air.

But Azlyn’s on it. She’s already halfway up the nearest bookshelf, throwing heavy volumes down as she goes. As the blade reaches the top of its arc, she jumps, wrapping her arms around the arm and thinking as heavy thoughts as she can.

The added weight is enough to disrupt the swing, bringing the heavily plated arm down. This has the added effect of disrupting the Heartless’s concentration, and Sora is finally able to push off its other blade.

Sora is free, but obviously Azlyn isn’t in the best position anymore. The Dual Blade shakes its arm to dislodge her, but she holds on tight. Telary goes in, flinging a fireball at the Heartless emblem on the armored foe’s chest. The orange flame splashes against the metal torso, but it doesn’t seem to have much effect.

Sora goes in next, swinging at the creature’s leg. The Keyblade hits with a resounding _clang_ , but it doesn’t seem to do damage. Dual Blade lashes out with a kick that the boy barely backs away from. Azlyn uses the moment to her advantage, dropping back to the floor.

When her feet hit she only has a fraction of a second to dive back, the blue blade coming around at her again in a horizontal slash. She turns her dive into a roll, coming to her feet just as the creature’s swing smashes into the shelf behind her, sending it tumbling down.

Sora dives back in, aiming higher this time. He hits the Heartless at its knee, producing the slightest of stumbles back. He attempts to press the advantage, but the Heartless is apparently as quick as it is large. The Keyblade swings through the empty air.

The Dual Blade’s quick movement hits against the edge of bookshelf, sending it crashing down towards Telary. Azlyn dives in quickly for the save, throwing her shield as she goes. It hits dead onto the creature’s exposed face, sending it stumbling back.

“Looks like we need to go for the face,” Telary comments as Azlyn rolls off him. “If I could line up a fireball…”

Azlyn shakes her head. “That thing may be too quick for long-range attacks. I only got lucky with that shield throw.”

Telary thinks for a moment, pushing his brain to strategize quickly as Sora keeps the Heartless off them. Not that the boy knows that that’s what he’s doing. Luckily for him, the wizard takes only a few moments. He quickly scans the room, finding what he needs.

“Go help Sora,” he quickly orders Azlyn. “Give me a second to get set up, then help him lead the Heartless in my direction.”

Azlyn nods and leaps, just in time to push Sora out of the way of a double sword swing. They roll together, springing to their feet.

“Y’know,” Sora comments as the Dual Blade takes its first steps toward the pair, “I am getting _way_ too used to you grabbing me.”

“Azlyn!” Telary calls out from across the room, waving his head above his head to attract attention.

“Plan?” Sora asks.

The knight shrugs. “Apparently. Telary said to draw it over to him.”

“Then let’s go.”

Sora rushes forward and whacks the Heartless in the leg, then dances to the side to avoid a blue blade. Azlyn rushes in next, attacking the other leg with her fist and darting in between two legs.

The Heartless turns and swings, but they’re already gone. It goes after Sora with the right blade, but he rolls aside. The left blade goes for Azlyn, who jumps and flips over the swing. She lands in front of where her shield lies on the floor, grabs it and runs forward several steps, then hurls it at the Dual Blade’s face. Her aim is true, bouncing off its exposed face.

It more than gets the job done, and the Heartless goes stomping after her, as frustrated as a creature like it can be. It’s still a little stunned from the painful impact, but the prey is right in front of it. How hard could they be to slice in half?

When it gains its sight back, it finds that the prey is gone. The only thing the Dual Blade can see is a shelf full of books, tipping slightly forward.

With another push the trio send the bookcase falling down, keeping their full weight on it all the way down. The creature inevitably struggles, but the heroes grit their teeth and keep it down.

Relying on his companions to keep the monster from rising, Sora leaps up onto the back of the shelf. He nearly trips as his foot lands on a book, but instead of stumbling he keeps up his momentum, leaping several feet, then more, until he lands in front of the Dual Blade’s exposed face. Grunting once, he stabs the Keyblade down, burying it in the shadowy visage.

“Whoo,” Azlyn deadpans dully. She pecks a quick kiss to Telary’s cheek, then goes around the fallen shelf. He follows after her.

“Nice job with that Heartless!”

The trio look around to see another trio, three small ladies Sora recognizes as the Gullwings. They float down through the air to hover in front of the heroes.

“It was alright,” Paine says in a disaffected voice.

“But _really_ cool!” Rikku giggles.

“Uh, do you know these tiny ladies, Sora?” Telary asks the Keybearer.

He nods. “We, uh, met once during the ball. You must have been busy.”

Azlyn’s glance quickly darts to the upper level, a funny smile on her face. “Must have been.”

“What are you doing in the castle anyway?” Sora frowns, suddenly remembering something. “More spying, huh? Do you guys work for Maleficent?”

“Whaaaat?” Rikku drawls, incredulous at the suggestion. “No, no way, we’d never…”

“Well, we were,” Yuna interrupts, immediately earning the ire of her companions.

“Way to go,” Rikku huffs.

“Blabbermouth,” Paine concurs.

“But if you’re with Maleficent, why would you be happy we killed that Heartless?” Telary asks.

“Some kinda double play?” Azlyn grumbles.

Yuna grins uncomfortably. “No, nothing like that. As it turns out, our working relationship with Maleficent was…”

“She kicked us to the curb,” Paine blurts, her arms folded tightly across her chest. “Apparently she wasn’t happy with what information we were able to give her about Leon and his buddies.”

“Which admittedly was _squat_ ,” Rikku says, shaking her head. “Turns out we’re better at treasure hunting than information gathering.”

“She actually sent some of her Heartless after us,” Yuna says, reaching for her hips. “But we took care of that.” Brushing aside her skirt, she reveals two small handguns perfectly sized for her little hands. Azlyn nods in approval.

“It seems we picked the wrong side,” Paine says, shaking her head.

“Well, how about picking the right side?” Sora suggests, seeing an opportunity present itself. “Leon and the committee could use lots of help.”

Yuna’s face twists in thought. “Could you give us a minute?”

The little women turn and huddle together, whispering among themselves like they’re in some kind of sports huddle. Sora and the others give each other bewildered looks.

“Well, why not?” Yuna says, the Gullwings turning back around. “After all, it’s Merlin’s spell that made us this size. Maybe if we help out his gang he’ll make us normal again.”

Sora shrugs. “Could happen.”

“And if you like treasure hunting, Leon has _lots_ of stuff!” Azlyn adds, waving her had grandly. And earning glares from the boys. “Seriously, _loaded_. Did you see all the stuff at that ball?”

“Well, if you didn’t have us convinced before, ya sure do now!” Rikku cheers, bouncing up and down excitedly.

“Treasure’s always a nice bonus,” Paine adds with a mild grin.

“Okay ladies,” Yuna commands, drawing her tiny guns, “let’s go kick some Heartless butt!”

As they fly off, Telary turns to his girlfriend with a disapproving look. “Why did you have to go and lie to them like that?”

The knight shrugs. “Did you hear how wishy-washy they sounded? With that extra little kick, their loyalty is guaranteed. And I think we’re gonna need damn loyal people for what’s about to happen.”

“Makes sense,” Sora concedes. “Which I think means I’ve been hanging out with you too long, Az.”

“Maybe you have.”

Telary rolls his eyes, “Well, I guess we’ll just have to hope that we all live long enough for this to come back and bite us.”

Azlyn lightly punches her boyfriend’s shoulder. “That’s the spirit! Now c’mon, we should get outta this castle.”

They rush out of the library. Looking down at the entrance hall, they see that the front doors are open, and the citizens of Hollow Bastion are rushing in. Sparing each other a quick glance, the trio move to a better vantage point.

Looking out the open doors, they spy the tail end of a mass of people. Aerith’s bright pink outfit stands out against the rest, herding them in from the back.

Beyond her, fighting off a squad of Armored Knight Heartless, is King Mickey. His golden Keyblade, the very reverse of Sora’s, flashes in the sunlight. The mouse never stays still for more than a few seconds, leaping about with his black cloak flapping.

Without a word the trio race forward to help out, the sight of Sora’s Keyblade parting the crowd. They leap forward as one, each striking at an incoming Surveillance Robot.

“Finally caught up to you, Your Majesty,” Sora remarks, swatting down another Surveillance Robot.

“Glad that ya did, Sora!” the king cheerfully replies, thrusting out his gloved hand. An orb of white light, just like the spiky-haired Keybearer has seen his wife create before, flies out to hit an Armored Knight. The creature disintegrates, and the orb moves on to another. Three more Heartless die before it dissipates. “All right, kids, I think that’s enough!”

The trio turn tail (literally in Mickey’s case) for the castle, the Heartless hot on their heels. Telary turns every few steps to fire back a magical blast, but in his haste doesn’t have much opportunity to aim.

Then suddenly, a huge blue rhinoceros barrels through the horde. For a second Sora is flustered, but suddenly he spots familiar glasses perched on the animal’s nose, comically small against the huge head.

They rush inside. Azlyn and Aerith each take one of the double doors and slam them shut. The rhino stops on a dime, and in a flash Merlin stands in the foyer instead.

“What’s going on out there?” Sora demands, looking down at Mickey.

“An attack,” the king states, shaking his head sorrowfully. “A gaggle of Heartless like I’ve never seen in one place before.”

“Power is down all over the city,” Aerith reports, grimacing. “The defense grid is completely gone, which has to mean that something is going on at the power plant.”

“Weren’t you there?” Telary asks.

The woman in pink nods. “Yes, I went there to oversee things. But then I left for a bit to get some lunch for everyone, and that’s when the power shut down and the Heartless started coming.”

“The power supply seems to be steady here,” Merlin comments with a stroke of his beard. “Perhaps a backup electrical generator of some kind.” The old man wrinkles his nose in disgust. “I told you that all of this reliance on technology would be your downfall. But did anyone listen to me? _No_ , they had to go and implement whatever new gadget that odious buffoon Highwind suggested…”

Aerith holds up a hand. The look on her face indicates clearly that this is not the first time she’s heard this rant. “This is not the time for that, Merlin.”

“So, who else was still in the power plant?” Mickey inquires.

“Cid was there, and Yuffie.” Aerith’s face falls “Oh no, so were Phineas and Ferb! They’re just children, if anything happened…”

“Nothing’s going to happen to them,” Sora declares, fists clenched in anger. “We’re gonna go to that power plant, and then…”

“No, Sora,” Mickey interrupts, drawing the trio’s attention. “You three have to go look for Riku and Kairi. You’ve gotta help your friends.”

“But Your Majesty, Leon and the committee are all our friends too!” Sora protests. Reaching into his pouch, he pulls out the official membership card, his name written on the back.

The king just shakes his head. “I’m sorry, but you’re just not necessary here. There’re lots of people who can help! Me included.”

“But…”

“Azlyn! Telary!” Mickey’s tone is one of absolute command, and the pair in question almost can’t help but spring to a crisp attention. “Take Sora and get going! You’ve got an important mission to carry out.”

Sora turns to his Disney Castle companions, biting his lip nervously. The three of them have been through a lot together, thick and thin and all that’s in between. But they’ve known Mickey a lot longer, he’s like a father to them, and obeying his wishes may be just too much of an ingrained habit at this point. Still, the Keybearer pleads with his eyes, begging them to disregard their orders this time.

The lovers look at each other for a long moment, having a quick silent conversation conveyed almost entirely via facial tics. In the end, they can only reach one inclusion.

“I hear you, Your Majesty,” Azlyn speaks up first, face locked in an almost expressionless guise. “We have an obligation to obey your orders, just as we have in the past.”

“That’s right,” Telary agrees. “Orders are orders. We’ll follow them like we always have.”

Sora grimaces. It seems that he was correct, and their loyalty is as much to their king as it ever was. Still, something seems off, keeping his heart from sinking completely.

“We could never betray your instructions,” Azlyn continues.

“The things you stand for,” Telary adds, winking at Sora.

And suddenly, Sora gets it. He’s heard those words before, in this very room to boot. And he knows what they mean.

Mickey nods. “I know you wouldn’t. You’re good kids. It’s nice to see that you’ve matured so much since I last saw you. You’ve come a long way from…” Mickey pauses, realization dawning on his face.

The jig is obviously up, so Telary raises his staff to the sky and lets loose the brightest burst of flame he can. It seems that everyone in the hall can’t help but look, and thus end up stunned by the brilliant light.

Everyone but Sora and Azlyn, who duck and race for the doors as the light fades, pushing them open and charging out into the courtyard.

“Sorry, Your Majesty!” Telary calls as he backs out himself. The mouse king seems to have recovered enough to look up, just in time for Sora and Azlyn to slam the doors shut.

“Thanks guys,” Sora says as he and his companions charge down the garden hill. Telary’s in the lead, and the Keybearer trusts him to know where the reactor is located. The wizard has always seemed to have an intuitive knowledge of his home world’s geography. “Could you get in trouble for this?”

Azlyn shrugs. “Maybe grounded or something, but I’m not actually an employee of Disney Castle, and we’ve always played it kind of fast and loose with the definition of ‘monarchy’.”

“Donald promoting me to wizard in the Gummi ship was purely symbolic,” Telary chimes in for his part. “Or at least that’s the excuse I’m going with. After all, I didn’t sign anything!”

“Well, however you try and justify it to the king, I owe you!” Sora declares, laughing a little. “If we weren’t in such a hurry I’d hug you both right now!”

Telary shakes his head, still kind of in shock. “That’s two times we’ve gone against the king’s wishes. I guess we haven’t changed all that much.”

Sora shakes his head, laughs. “I disagree. Azlyn’s changed quite a bit!”

“How?” the knight asks as they hit the two itself, headed for a nearby section of the wall. She senses a trap in the Keybearer’s statement, but decides to spring it anyway.

Sora laughs again, so hard he barely gets his next words out. “Well for one thing, this time you actually managed to let us _in_ on the plan!”


	34. Power Struggle

For the first time in her life, Yuffie Kisaragi can’t make up her mind on whether or not she’s having a good or bad day.

And so the ninja indulges herself for a moment, quickly going through and categorizing the most important days of her life in her head.

Good days: First time she threw a shuriken, first kiss (Robert Something. She was in the 2nd grade, and it wasn’t _that_ great anyway), returning to her childhood home after years of exile.

Bad days: First broken bone (Leg, attempting to leap across a twenty foot gap between some crates in a Traverse Town alley. They’d been in town about a year), fourth and fifth broken bones (Both wrists, attempting to help Leon out against some Heartless) and of course the horrible attack on her childhood home that had resulted in the previously mentioned years of exile.

She goes through all of this very quickly, while throwing out several shuriken, because she’s currently surrounded by Heartless outside the Hollow Bastion Power Plant. Which really _should_ be a point in the bad column, but has also provided her with many Heartless to throw shuriken at.

“Miss Kisaragi, we’re surrounded!” cries out a young Hollow Bastion Guard cadet. His crossbow trembles in his grip as he reports the situation, but Yuffie saw him take out a few of the Heartless with it just minutes ago.

So there’s a definite point for this being a bad day, because she’s stuck with two dozen fresh out of basic training guards.

“Good!” she cries back to the nervous boy. He might actually be older than her, but she’s in charge, more experienced. “Now we can fire in every direction!”

“For those of you with ranged weapons it’s good,” complains Jessie, a young female soldier currently using her short blade to knock back a tight grouping of swooping Hook Bats.

“Just keep ‘em off our backs, Jess!” Yuffie encourages, jumping up and kicking a Soldier who had gotten too close. “But don’t be a hero.”

As the ninja is dispensing advice, three Large Bodies gather themselves together and strike at a weak spot in the line. Two guards Yuffie doesn’t know the names of go flying, landing in the midst of several Soldiers. She looks away quickly, none too keen on observing their fate.

“Gather together!” she calls out, putting the pain of losing two good people aside for the moment.

So, definitely a _bad_ day then. One of the worst.

The Large Bodies are relentless, and a cluster of Soldiers follow in their wake. The rookies form up on their boss’s command, but Yuffie can see the tremble in every step. They aren’t prepared for this, no way. It’ll take a miracle to prevent a complete slaughter.

“C’mon, wedge formation,” she orders, fighting to keep her voice from shaking. “Strongest fighters out front. Stay steady, and we might…”

Jessie lets out a battle cry and charges forward, ignoring the ninja’s orders completely. Yuffie can see tear reflected in her eyes, and knows instantly that one or both of the soldiers just lost was special to the girl.

 _The_ worst day, no contest.

Thankfully Jessie doesn’t get far before three familiar forms clad in black leap out of nowhere, weapons drawn and ready.

The Large Bodies charge is the immediate problem, so Azlyn raises her shield while Telary and Sora conjure the strongest magical protective barriers they can. The huge Heartless meet the resistance, and bounce back.

The sudden reversal of momentum collapses what little order there was in the mass of Heartless, sending most of them sprawling to the pavement.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary press the advantage, wading into the fallen enemies and having at them.

The dark creatures successfully distracted, Yuffie leaps forward and grabs Jessie. The young guard had stopped in her tracks when the Keybearer and company arrived, and it’s an easy matter for her commander to drag her away.

As Yuffie escorts Jessie to relative safety, she checks the left flank, not secured by living legends, but rather ordinary men and women.

Well, relatively ordinary. One dark-haired girl, clad in a black uniform with a red stripe on her left sleeve, raises her hand and unleashes a blast of fire that scorches dozens of Soldiers and Surveillance Robots at once. Distantly Yuffie remembers once making fun of the girl, whose name she can’t remember for the life of her. Something about being dour. Well, from now on she’ll only have kind things to say.

Beside her, a lithe boy that barely looks old enough to be on a battle field fights with bare knuckles. He doesn’t seem to require a weapon, though, punching holes through Heartless as if they’re made of paper.

“Thomas,” Jessie suddenly lets out, a sob wracking her body. “They, they got Thomas!”

Yuffie holds the girl, not much younger than her, to her chest. “I know, I know.” She pulls Jessie back, looking her intensely in the eye. “But you can’t fall apart like that! You’re a soldier, girl! I told you not to be a hero.” She turns the girl around, directing her gaze to the left flank. “That’s why they’re here.”

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary prove themselves a three person wrecking crew, knocking down Heartless left and right. Magic flies and the Keyblade slashes, and inexplicably the _enemy_ begins a retreat.

Sora swings the Keyblade through three Armored Knights at once, then steps forward and cuts down two more. Telary grits his teeth and summons a line of lightning bolts that eliminate at least a dozen Soldiers. As a Surveillance Robot swoops down on Azlyn, the knight notices its laser charger. Leaping up, she grabs the Heartless around the middle and aims it back at its dark compatriots. The unleashed beam rams forth in a column as thick around as a man, completely disintegrating the Heartless force’s entire forward line.

Yuffie has joined the left flank, Jessie beside her. They begin a surge as well, ten of Yuffie’s shuriken tearing into at least twice as many Heartless of all kinds. The magical girl freezes a swathe of the creatures, and the boy with the fists crushes them into shards. Jessie even makes her own contribution, cutting down any Heartless that nears her.

“Sora!” Telary calls out to his friend. Despite being mere feet apart, the wizard has to shout to be heard. “Azlyn! We can’t hold this forever! We need to get inside, get the defense grid online! It’s the only way to drive them back.”

Sora cuts down a swooping Air Soldier, then turns to the wizard and nods in agreement. “You’re right. We need to get inside that plant!”

The entrance in question isn’t far, about twenty feet across a straightaway of grey stone. The front building, containing mostly administrative offices, is only about three stories high. The huge cylinder of the reactor itself can barely be seen from here, just a few rounded feet of orange metal jutting out from behind the offices. A heavy sliding door of orange steel, usually manned from the security office inside, keeps the Heartless from flooding the building conventionally. But Telary knows already that any number of dark creatures could have crept in via the dark corridors, so it’s actually only serving to keep out the day’s heroes.

Azlyn doesn’t share his consideration, and charges forward with her shield out, flinging aside Heartless with a swing of her arm. It’s too good of an opening to miss, and the boys follow her into the fray.

Which happens to include another Dual Blade, stalking towards them through a crowd of Armored Knights.

Telary’s still considering how they’re going to get around the real problem, that huge metal door, when an odd sound rips through the air.

_HONK HONK!_

Startled by the loud noise, accompanied by another almost constant rumble that most had assumed was due to the sheer volume of Heartless feet on the ground, everyone turns to its source.

A monstrously big vehicle, a blocky rectangle with a giant plow jutting out and tires as large as a man, rips through the battlefield. Heartless fall beneath it, and it’s only by the grace of good organizing that the human soldiers meet the same fate.

_HOOOOOOOOOOOONK!!!_

Noticing that they’re directly in its path, Sora and company quickly cut an escape route through a group of Armored Knights and Lance Soldiers. Just in case, they dive as one as the roaring machine rumbles past.

Sora rolls up just in time to see the bulldozer slamming straight into the Dual Blade, cutting the Heartless in two pieces that dissolve in a flash of dark energy. But it doesn’t stop there, crushing hordes of dark creatures before slamming into the security door itself.

The metal buckles, easily solving the trio’s entrance problem. One corner of the door has crumpled, leaving a hole they can easily duck through.

An Air Battler, a blue, more heavily armored brethren to the Air Soldier, dives for the bulldozer’s passenger door. It gets more than it bargains for, however, when the door suddenly swings out. The creature bounces off the red metal of the door, slamming into the stone wall of the administrative building and exploding into scattered dark energy. Just like that, a ten foot radius around the front of the building is totally Heartless free.

Focusing his gaze, Telary notices a small foot clad in a high heel sticking out from the bulldozer’s open door.

“Oh, I don’t even believe this,” Azlyn mutters as LeBlanc emerges from the vehicle’s cab, balancing on the wide lip surrounding it.

The trio rush over just as the ten foot ladder slams down to the stone ground. LeBlanc steps down as casually as if she’s entering the Hollow Bastion Restoration Ball. She wears a bustier made of interlocking metal plates, sleeves of matching armor, and a chainmail skirt that falls to her ankles.

“Miss LeBlanc…” Sora begins, running out of words as soon as he’s gotten that much out.

“That was amazing,” Telary manages.

Azlyn’s already used her words up.

Hollow Bastion’s wealthiest, and thank whatever deities exist most generous, citizen shrugs modestly. “I heard that my Ciddy Widdy is in there.” LeBlanc allows herself a small smile. “And don’t act so surprised, dears. If I’m financing a vehicle, then I think I should damn well know how to drive it.”

Yuffie and her company, thankfully not appearing short any more soldiers than before, arrive at the clear area. A new, blonde-haired magician and several soldiers with crossbows keep the Heartless lines back.

“Miss LeBlanc, way to be!” the ninja exclaims.

The aforementioned woman gives the young girl a smile. “Yes, I know.”

Sora steps up to change the momentum of the conversation. “Okay, this looks like a line you can hold. Right?”

Yuffie nods. “Yeah, it’ll be fine for a while. I’ve got another magic user ready to go when this one runs out, and the crossbows generate their own bolts.”

The Keybearer nods. “Who’s still inside?”

“Cid,” Yuffie states definitively. LeBlanc grimaces at the mention. “And I think Phineas and Ferb. Everybody else got out.”

“I assume there are Heartless inside?” Telary asks.

Yuffie nods again. “No matter what else they did, whoever messed with the station had to leave enough for the instruments inside to run. Probably killed the defenses, though.”

“So, same old same old,” Azlyn deadpans, testing out her shield arm with an experimental swing.

“We’re going in,” Sora declares, his expression tight with determination. “You’ll only have to hold here until we can get things running again. Give us ten minutes.”

“ _Ten_ dear?” LeBlanc blurts, pressing a hand to her breast. “That’s being a little optimistic.”

Azlyn grins proudly. “Trust me, that’s generous for us.”

She bows acquiescingly. “Noted.”

“Good luck kids,” Yuffie tells the heroes, giving each one a small grin. “We’re gonna need it.”

**KH-KH-KH**

The administrative building is basically a huge open block, offices jutting out from the sides. The trio hardly care about them, focusing only on the huge metal staircase leading up to the reactor tower.

And the Armored Knights charging down it.

Telary sighs as he watches them come. “I realize it’s a siege, but couldn’t we get like five minutes?”

Neither of the others have an answer for the wizard, already rushing forward to meet the half-dozen strong Heartless squadron. They fall upon them like a wave against Destiny Island’s shore, striking with all the power of a tsunami.

The struggle lasts a minute, giving a single Surveillance Robot ample time to line up its perfect shot. Straight for the Keybearer.

Knocking over his opponent, Sora hears the sound of a killed Heartless _behind_ him, and turns just in time to see a rounded projectile arcing back to its owner.

“Thanks, Azlyn,” the Keybearer offhandedly tells the knight once he has the breath.

She frowns back at him. “For what?”

The spiky-haired boy is utterly bewildered for a moment. “Uh, taking out that flying Heartless. Nobody else could have made that shield throw.”

“My shield was a little occupied bashing in another Heartless’s face at the time, actually.”

Sora frowns. “Then who…?”

“Uh, guys,” Telary suddenly interrupts behind them. “I think I’ve been using too much magic too quickly. I’m hallucinating.”

Azlyn scoffs and turns to comfort her boyfriend. “Tel, I’m pretty sure that… that I’m hallucinating too.”

Curious, Sora whirls on his heel to see what his friends are so interested in. When he lays eyes on it, the Keyblade clatters to the floor.

Because standing before them, examining with a calculating gaze, is Perry the Platypus. Standing on two feet. Wearing a brown fedora. That was almost certainly the projectile that just saved Sora’s life.

“ _Grrrwllll,_ ” is all the semi-aquatic mammal has to say for itself.

Then, bizarrely, it all clicks.

“You’re protecting Phineas and Ferb,” Sora says to the platypus. “You know they’re in here and you want to keep them safe.”

Perry nods once, curtly.

“Makes as much sense as anything else we’ve seen,” Azlyn declares, shrugging disaffectedly. “Just a few minutes ago we defied the explicit orders of a mouse in a black coat holding a golden Keyblade.”

Suddenly there are more pressing matters than a kung-fu platypus, as an unexpected _boom_ echoes through the building, accompanied by a mild shaking. Without another word the newly formed quartet charge, racing up the stairs.

The normally excruciating climb is mitigated by pure adrenaline, and luckily no Heartless arrive to distract. After a minute they race out onto a round stone platform hanging above a black abyss. Pipes and thick wires stick out of and into the walls all around.

A small metal staircase leads up to a smaller round platform, another orange heavy metal door set into the wall.

“Well, that’s a change, at least,” Telary comments upon seeing the Nobodies dancing around the firmly shut door.

They’re not any kind of Nobody the trio are familiar with, lithe like Dusks but wearing harem pants and caps. Their hands end in hooks, which are currently trying to claw through the door.

“HEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!” the unmistakable voice of Cid cries. It sounds like the old engineer is on the verge of tears.

“Well, should we help him out?” Azlyn asks sardonically.

“Please, help us!”

As soon as Phineas’s voice reaches Perry’s ears, the platypus is off. He lands both feet into a Dancer’s torso, flips off, and punches another Nobody hard enough to snap its head back.

“Man, that’s cool!” Sora exclaims before charging himself. His first swing is dodged, but Azlyn is luckily right there to deal with the creature. “Weird, but _cool_!”

Perry reaches out to grab another Nobody around the legs. With a combination grunt and growl, the little mammal swings it around in circles, knocking straight through three of its brethren.

Azlyn ducks a punch, sidesteps a kick, and then lets loose with her own blow. The Dancer swings to the side in a graceful movement, but Telary has a fireball waiting there for it.

Once the platform is clear, Sora knocks once on the closed door. Seconds later Cid, Phineas, and Ferb emerge. They look pretty shaken up with the exception of Ferb, the green-haired kid as implacable as ever.

“I owe ya, kid!” Cid tells Sora, clapping a hand against his shoulder. He looks more cheerful than any of the trio can ever recall seeing him. “Ya really saved our bacon there.”

“And you found Perry!” Phineas cries happily, rushing forward to grab the platypus. His eyes have gone dull again, one lazily drifting to the right. Phineas squeezes his pet tight with love and affection, then turns to look up at Azlyn, frowning. “Uh, what’s with the hat Azlyn?”

The knight raises her hands to the top of her head. She finds Perry’s small brown fedora waiting for her there. She gives the semi-aquatic mammal a questioning look, and in turn receives a split second look that silently declares _Say nothing_.

“Oh, uh, this is my fighting hat,” she explains, shrugging and placing it back on her head. The boys give her odd looks, but she ignores them. “I wear it when I know a battle is gonna be really intense.”

“What happened here?” Telary inquires.

Cid crosses his arms and lets out a dismayed _harumph_. “Well, we were working on some improvements to the system when those Nobody bozos showed up. Some guy in a black coat was leading ‘em, had the freakiest haircut I ever saw.” He spares a glance at Sora’s ‘do. “And that’s sayin’ something. Anyway, he sicced his goons on us, so me and the boys skedaddled and holed up in that closet. Were in there for almost twenty minutes before you showed up.”

The trio turn to huddle together.

“Organization XIII is behind this?” Telary sounds quite bewildered. “With all these Heartless around, I was sure it’d be Maleficent’s doing.”

“Hey, Cid?” Sora calls, rising from the huddle to regard the old mechanic. “Could you describe this ‘freaky hairdo’? Was it blue, or really bright red…?”

Cid shakes his head vigorously. “No, it was a normal color. Blond, maybe. Real dirty. But the style was all weird, like some kind of… Y’know, what’re they called?”

“A mullet,” Azlyn finishes, her fists clenching. “That means it must be that Demyx guy. The one who was messing around in the Underworld.”

Sora quirks and eyebrow. “They’d really send him on such an important mission? The guy seemed like a total wimp!”

_BOOOM!!!_

The sound of a nearby explosion reverberates throughout the spacious interior of the power plant. The sheer force of its sound shakes the entire place, including the small stone platform everyone is standing upon.

“That ain’t good,” Cid declares darkly, scratching his chin. “An impact like that, comin’ near the reactor, could blow this whole town to kingdom come! Probably get rid of most of the Heartless, but a whole mess ‘a people would go with ‘em.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t let that happen!” Sora swears, clenching his fists and gesturing for Azlyn and Telary to follow along behind him. They race up a nearby staircase, quickly bounding across one last round landing before they reach the stairs to the reactor…

Suddenly laser fire, a barrage by the sounds of it, races down the stairs. It’s only through sheer luck that Azlyn is in the lead, the knight just barely throwing her shield up in time to block it all. The force of the fire sends her stumbling back onto the landing.

Sora steps to the right of the staircase, where he’ll be out of range, but Telary hurls a single fireball quickly up the stairs. The Heartless shy away from his projectile, giving him a free moment to glance up the stairwell.

“There’s probably a dozen of those things, hovering right at the top!” he reports. “They’ve got the high ground, and I don’t think I have the power for a spell big enough to take them all out at once. At least not at this range.”

“How tall is that staircase?” asks Sora, the only one of the trio who hasn’t gotten a look up.

Telary shrugs. “There must have been about two dozen stairs, and at a crazy steep incline.”

“Okay, so we just need a way to cover ourselves while we get close,” Azlyn says, her eyes darting back and forth as she formulates a plan. “I’ll go first and…”

Telary shakes his head. “With as much firepower as they’ll have, your shield won’t be big enough to cover me!”

The knight grins. “Well, then I guess I’ll just need a bigger shield.” She sets her weapon on the ground and gives its edge a tap with the heel of her shoe. Suddenly the disc erupts into sparkles, enlarging itself as it did to make a sled in the Land of Dragons.

“Perfect!” Sora yells in congratulation. “Okay, Azlyn goes first and keeps us covered. We’ll go behind you and get our firepower ready!”

She nods and lift her shield, now easily large enough to provide complete cover for their march up the stairs. Sora and Telary huddle behind her, and together they start up the metal steps.

The very moment that Azlyn places her foot on the bottom stair, the Surveillance Robots fire from above. The deadly pink energy cascades against the metal shield, but it holds.

Azlyn grunts and pushes, struggling against the combined force of the shots as she takes one step at a time. The boys are close behind her, both concentrating and gathering power for their spells.

“We’re almost at the top, Az!” Telary encourages the girl, risking a quick peak. Soon they’ll be too close for the Heartless to risk ricochets.

Another barrage, this one concentrated like a planned attack, nearly sends the whole party tumbling down the stairs. It’s a desperation move, one last push before reflected shots become a problem. But Azlyn holds, gritting her teeth and planting her feet.

“Okay,” she says, noticing that the strength of the shots have lessened. “Get ready guys, ‘cause I’m dropping it… Now!”

The shield’s rim dips, and Sora and Telary unleash twin fire spells. The flames fly forth in a deluge rather than concentrating themselves into balls, unleashing a deadly cone of fire that disintegrates the Surveillance Robots.

With the threat eliminated, the trio race out into the open air. The staircase’s opening leads to a small catwalk above the circular roof of the reactor. Grey metal surrounds an octagon made of glass, the whirling electrical energy of the reactor core illuminated like the lightbulbs it powers. Various control consoles sit back against the sides, their own wires running upward into sockets that loop back down to plug directly into the mass of energy being produced below.

But the architecture of the place hardly interests the heroes. They can all only stare down at the confrontation taking place below.

All across the reactor roof, Heartless fights Nobody. Soldiers and Dancers clash against each other, locked in a stalemate.

In the middle of it all, fighting right on the edge of the glass, are Pete and Demyx. Maleficent’s minion flings any explosive he can find on his body, from small pellets to huge orbs of devastating destruction. It’s a stupid tactic to employ atop a reactor, but Pete either doesn’t care or hasn’t thought of that. Azlyn suspects the latter.

As for Demyx, the blond Nobody’s fingers fly across his sitar, calling up walls and streams and orbs of water to deflect Pete’s explosives.

“Well, this is certainly an interesting matchup,” Azlyn comments, unable to keep herself from smirking in amusement. “Whaddya say we see who kills who first, then take on the winner?”

That quickly becomes not an option, as Demyx spares a glance at the source of the human voices, his mouth falling open in shock. Pete notices his opponent’s change of expression, and casts his eyes over to where the Nobody is looking.

“Well, if it ain’t the big bad Keybearer and his Disney Castle brats!” the fat cat chuckles. “Maleficent said youse might show up.”

“Xem… Er, the Superior said they would too,” Demyx chimes in. Far from being as pleased as Pete, the Organization XIII member looks almost nervous. “I’m still supposed to, uh, ‘liberate his true disposition’. Oh, man.”

“Unfortunately, I find myself kinda busy with mullet head over here,” Pete declares, jerking a thumb back at his black-clad adversary. “Maybe my Heartless can take care of ya this time.”

“And, uh, my Dancers!” Demyx declares, twitching nervously. “Quick, er, attack the Keybearer!”

“Go get ‘em Heartless, and don’t let them Nobodies get close!”

“Dancers, keep those Heartless back and deal with them yourselves!”

The Heartless and Nobodies, being the lesser beings that they are, find themselves unable to figure out such complicated instructions. So while the Heartless charge for the trio, the Dancer Nobodies continue their full-on assault against the Heartless.

A water ball from Demyx hits Pete and sends him stumbling back, restarting the battle against the pair of lackeys as well.

Basically, things go right back to where they were.

“Quick, while they’re distracted!” Sora orders, leaping over the catwalk’s railing and onto the roof of the reactor below. His companions follow, and they begin cutting through the occupied Heartless and Nobodies.

A Dancer slithers away from the claws of a Soldier, only to meet its end at Sora’s hands. Two Soldiers charge a Dancer, pinning it down and clawing its head straight from its lithe body. Their victory is short lived, however, as Telary calls down a lightning bolt to fry them.

Azlyn gets into a one-on-one with a Dancer, ducking and flipping to dodge its hooked hands. She goes to one knee to avoid a strike, inadvertently creating the perfect opening for a Soldier to fling itself atop the Nobody and start shredding.

Pete and Demyx hardly take note of the casualties their forces are taking, too busy contesting their skills against each other. With an upward swing of his sitar, Demyx summons forth a column of water that Pete barely stumbles away from, the fat cat retaliating with a bomb the size of his knuckle. It’s too small for Demyx to take notice of, impacting against the Melodious Nocturne’s cloak.

Pete watches triumphantly as the Nobody yelps and stumbles back, smiling sinisterly to himself. Then suddenly something whacks against the back of his head. Grunting, Maleficent’s minion stumbles forward. Collecting himself, he turns to glare at the three teens he knows are waiting behind him.

“I guess it’s two for one day after all, huh?” Sora remarks. He and his companions stand before the fat cat defiantly, crouched in their battle poses.

Pete’s gaze darts to Demyx, who has managed to put out the small fire on his cloak’s chest. The Nobody glares at Maleficent’s minion as well, and suddenly he begins to feel distinctly nervous.

“Y’know what?” Pete declares, slamming his hips against his hips defiantly. “I think youse guys deserve each other!”

With that statement, the fat cat lets out a yelp of fear and books it for the reactor’s other staircase, leading up into the old aqueduct.

 “I figured _that_ was gonna happen,” Azlyn chuckles, shaking her head.

“What about you, Nobody?” Sora calls across the reactor, startling Demyx and sending him stumbling back several steps. “You gonna run away like you did when we caught you messing around in the Underworld? Man, how did a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?”

“Sora…” Telary says in cautious voice, warily eyeing the Melodious Nocturne. The man may be a coward, but there’s no denying his command of water magic is incredible.

“Hey. I’m not as cowardly as you seem to think!” Demyx shoots back. “And I can fight! You just saw me taking on that big guy!”

Azlyn scoffs. “Yeah, you managed to keep Pete at a standstill. That’s not exactly going to win you a cup at the coliseum.”

Demyx sighs and shakes his head. “Man,” he mutters to himself, “I _told_ them they were sending the wrong guy!”

“What’s with this kook?” Sora asks his companions. “It’s like he doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.”

Telary shrugs. ‘Well, he is a Nobody after all. Maybe he doesn’t.”

Sora nods. “You’re right. Without hearts, Nobodies are just…”

“Oh, we do too have hearts!” Demyx declares, rolling his eyes as if he’s repeating a well-known fact to someone willfully ignorant. “Don’t be mad, Roxas.”

Sora scowls. “That’s not my name! I’m _Sora_ , and you Organization goons calling me that name is starting to get on my nerves! And you don’t wanna be someone who’s on my nerves!”

Telary frowns at the younger boy, wholly unused to this overly aggressive side of him. A side that seems to come out most often around members of Organization XIII.

“He’s just trying to trick us!” Azlyn declares, stepping up to Sora’s side.

“Yeah.” Sora nods, still glaring at Demyx. “Distracting us so you can open one of your portals and…”

“S _ilence_ , traitor!” the Nobody suddenly declares. “I think maybe last time I just didn’t use _enough_ aggression. Well, let’s hope the second time’s the charm. Dance water, dance!”

As the Melodious Nocturne begins to strum, his water clone rise up all around the heroic trio. Floating above they air, dozens upon dozens of the creatures begin to advance.

“This trick again?” Azlyn scoffs, bashing through three watery clones with her shield. She sidesteps another two coming at her, then reaches out and grabs the nearest by its throat. With a grunt of effort, she swings the creature in a circle, eliminating a swathe of its fellows. Her immediate area cleared, she swings again, letting go this time and sending her opponent/weapon spinning into the others.

She charges through the clear space, batting away what clones move in to press the attack. Finally she reaches Demyx. The Nobody looks up to glare at her, fingers still flying across his instrument.

“And what’s up with that battle cry?” she mocks, ducking under a trio of water spheres that come charging at her. “How do you think _you’d_ like it if every time I came at you, I started yelling ‘dance fists, dance’!”

She leaps at the Nobody, but he raises the sitar to block. Her kick impacts against its flat surface, and she turns that into momentum for a backflip. Her foot barely touches the ground, however, before Demyx strums a chord that sends a column of water shooting out of the ground.

The knight can’t compensate for the sudden pressure, and stumbles forward. Grinning, Demyx swings out his guitar, sending another column crashing into the girl. She grunts in pain and goes flying backwards.

Telary and Sora both spot the confrontation getting ugly, but their way is impeded by the still swarming water clones. No matter how many they cut down, bash, or fry with magic, more just keep coming.

Another geyser knocks Azlyn to the right, where a second spout of liquid knocks her back left. Everywhere she turns there seems to be more water, preventing the girl from gaining any balance.

Demyx watches it all with a grin, constantly advancing as he plays his deadly song. “Tell me something, girl.”

A hard chord sends a flurry of bubbles raining down on Azlyn, knocking her back so fasts he can’t see what’s going on. Telary evaporates thirty water clones in one spell, charging at the Organization XIII member hounding his girlfriend. The wizard growls warningly, but all it takes is a single strum from Demyx to form a column of water that shoots up diagonally from the ground, knocking him back. He barely has time to recover before more water clones attack.

“As I was saying,” Demyx continues, nonchalant as the forces under his control batter Azlyn’s body, “tell me something. If I don’t have a heart, then why am I enjoying this so much?”

Azlyn’s only response is a shield throw. Despite the heavy jostling of the water, her aim is true. The edge of her weapon slams into Demyx’s head. The Nobody is stunned, and for a brief second all water attacks cease.

Azlyn takes advantage, charging at the Organization’s Number IX. She leaps up, foot raised to kick him hard in the face.

But she’s too slow, and Demyx manages to flail out a single chord. Water flies from his sitar in a column, impacting against the airborne knight and sending her flying through the air.

Straight into the reactor’s safety railing.

Her head impacts against the metal, there’s a loud _clang_ , and suddenly Azlyn’s whole body goes limp, laying on the floor like a discarded ragdoll.

Telary hears the noise and stops in his tracks, water clones dogpiling him, intent on providing him with the unique experience of drowning several stories above sea level. They pile on so thick and fast the wizard is impossible to see, crushed under their weight.

Then suddenly a flash of light erupts in the heart of the pile. Water turns to burning steam, spreading in a cloud that covers the entire reactor platform.

Grimacing, Demyx strums away the water in the mist. It clears his sightline, just in time to see Telary charging at him.

The Melodious Nocturne frantically plucks his sitar, hoping to use the same tactic against Telary as he had with his girlfriend. But the watery orbs meet fireballs, erupting into more harmless steam.

With a loud scream, Telary leaps atop Demyx, throwing his elbow in the Nobody’s face. Demyx lets out his own yelp, striking blindly with his hand. He manages to catch Telary’s face with the heel of it, and the wizard falls back.

But now it’s Sora’s turn, and the Keybearer means business. He leaps up and swings the Keyblade down, smashing into Demyx’s torso with all the force of an oncoming train.

The Nobody flies back, only stopping once he impacts against the stone of the city’s outer wall. He rebounds back onto his knees, clearing his head with a shake. He rises, raising his head up to see…

Telary flies in again, the heavy head of his staff knocking into Demyx’s face. The Nobody can’t even cry out as five teeth go flying, shooting up into the air like so much white shrapnel. His head cracks against the stone wall again, disorienting him even further.

Telary isn’t done though, taking another swing. Somehow Demyx dodges, one finger plucking desperately at a string. Three high impact water orbs fly at the wizard before him, colliding with his chest and sending him backward.

Sora rushes in to cover, but now Demyx has had a chance to think, and a chord keeps the Keybearer off.

Demyx stands, still half-dazed from his blows to the head. Without even looking at his opponents he strums at the sitar, a column of water shooting at them.

Telary rises and grabs at Azlyn’s fallen shield, catching the projectile and splashing the Nobody’s own element back at him. Demyx flinches as it soaks him, but the “attack” barely warrants it.

Sora moves around Telary and swings again, but Demyx catches the blow on his sitar and turns it aside. Lashing out with the neck, he knocks Sora back.

The Keybearer barely stumbles before charging forward again. This swing connects, and Demyx flails as the impact drives him back and to the left. His hip hits the edge of a power control console, and he falls to a knee hard. He feels something break, but he doesn’t care. All he needs are his fingers, and with a swipe he knocks Sora away.

“You might have just killed the woman I loved, you filthy monster,” Telary says through gritted teeth, his tone more threatening now than has ever heard it. He raises his fallen love’s shield. “This was her weapon. No, it was more than that, it was her life. And just like you killed her, I swear that _this_ is the weapon that will kill you!”

The wizard screams in anger and agony, hurling the disc at Demyx’s head. But for all his rage, Telary is by no means the marksman with it Azlyn was, and the throw goes high. There’s a loud clang as it hits _something_ , but Demyx is untouched.

“Ha!” the Nobody barks out, shaking his head in disbelief. “Man, you gave that whole speech and you _still_ missed!”

Telary shakes his head once. “No, I didn’t.”

Confused, Demyx looks up at the spot where the shield impacted. He quickly determines that it cut through most of a thick electrical wire bolted to the wall, sparks popping over its exposed metal. But the insulation that holds the cable to the wall is fraying, slowly but surely breaking down.

“Y’see, Demyx,” Telary says, eyes hard as stones, “the problem with throwing all that water around is that you. Got. _Wet_.”

And finally the last bit of plastic insulation breaks, sending the thick, sparking bundle of wires falling down.

Right on top of Demyx.

Telary turns away quickly, rushing straight to Azlyn’s side. Sora can only stare, watching emotionlessly as the Nobody dies, his screams turning hollow as his body disintegrates into tiny dark flakes of Nothingness.

When he finally turns away, he moves to Azlyn’s other side. Telary has her hand in both of his, eyes closed in concentration.

The wizard knows that after an hour of near constant fighting, his power is reduced to dregs. But he concentrates harder than he ever has, putting everything he can into one last Cure.

His entire body glows green, and a flower blooms over Azlyn, sprinkling down a cascade of healing energy. White energy plays over her form, but when it fades it seems nothing has changed.

“It…” Telary breathes, his throat hoarse. Forming words is hard, all his energy expounded in his last ditch effort. “It didn’t work. The only way it wouldn’t work was, was if…”

Sora catches his meaning, the Keybearer rearing his head back and howling with rage.

“Anybody in the Organization that wants to be _next_?” he roars in challenge, screaming into the sky.

His only answer is a sudden explosion, right behind him. The boy stumbles forward, toppling over onto Telary as a thick smoke covers the air.

“Well,” says a familiar voice, its light feminine tones amongst the scariest Sora has ever known, “I’m afraid I am not a part of this ‘Organization’. But perhaps you might still squeeze me in.”

The smoke clears to reveal Maleficent standing atop the far catwalk, Pete gloating at her side.

“You!” Sora cries, standing up and summoning the Keyblade to his hand. Telary steps up beside him, gripping his staff tight despite its relative uselessness in this situation. “You started this!”

The witch chuckles lightly. “In that you are correct, my dear boy.” The jade-skinned woman pets the green orb atop her staff almost affectionately. “And is it not a glorious force I have assembled. Not even the high walls of this town could deter it. Even the cursed technology it relied upon to defend itself has failed. There will be no stopping me now.”

“Uh, Maleficent,” Pete interrupts, “don’t ya mean no stopping _us_?”

The witch rolls her eyes, refusing to answer the idiotic inquiry. Instead she gazes back down at Sora and Telary. “It’s only a pity that I shall only have the privilege of dispatching two of you.”

Telary growls, teeth grinding against each other.

“Though I can’t help but wonder,” Maleficent continues, frowning for a moment. “Where _has_ that little knight of yours gone off to?”

Bewildered, the boys turn their heads to the spot Azlyn lay. It is empty, the knight gone from her resting place.

“Right here, ya green bitch!”

Azlyn leaps up into the air as Maleficent turns. The witch’s mouth barely has time to drop open before Azlyn’s fist connects with it. With a gasp of surprise, the jade-skinned woman flies backwards into Pete.

The fat cat reacts quickly for once in his life, reaching out to catch his mistress as she bounces against his belly. Her green visage is still contorted in shock.

Pete opens a portal and begins to back into it.

“Wha’re ya d’ing?” Maleficent protests, her words slightly muffled by the pain in her jaw. “I c’n st’l ‘ave mah rahvahnge!”

“Frankly my dear,” Pete informs the jade-skinned woman, “I’d rather _run_!” And he does, the portal quickly shutting itself.

“Well that’s a first,” Azlyn chuckles, leaping down onto the reactor floor, “usually the bad guys let out one last lame threat before they leave, like…”

She doesn’t get to complete that sentence before her companions barrel into her, wrapping the knight up in their arms.

After a minute of whooping joy, then another thirty seconds of silent happiness, she pulls back and looks at the boys with one eyebrow raised.

“What, did you guys really think I was _dead_?” she laughs, shaking her head at the shocked expressions her statement conjures on her friends. “Man, I’ve taken harder hits than that while practicing throwing my shield. I wasn’t always as great at catching as I am now.” After a moment she throws in a shrug. “But to be perfectly honest, Perry’s dumb hat took most of the impact. Do you think he’ll be pissed I lost it?”

Sora pulls back, laughing loudly, but Telary continues to hold his girlfriend. He nuzzles his cheek against hers, and she returns the favor.

“I…” he barely manages to get out, tears falling from his eyes. “I really thought I’d… I thought you were…”

Azlyn draws her head back, reaching up a hand to wipe her boyfriend’s face. “I’m not, Tel. I’m alright.”

At that point Telary can’t do anything but kiss her.

Sora watches the lovers embrace, his heart warmed at the survival of his friend. And once again he aches for Kairi, praying silently that the Organization hasn’t harmed her.

If they have, then his reaction will make Telary’s earlier fury look _mild_ in comparison.

It’s a perfect moment, so of course it can’t last.

“ _Ahem_.”

The trio whirl back to the catwalk at the sound of yet another familiar voice, this one friendlier. Not that one would know it from the stern expression on Mickey Mouse’s face.

“Well well,” he chuckles, his expression nigh unreadable. “It seems there’s something you kids have neglected to tell me.”


	35. Badlands

“Your Majesty!” Telary exclaims, accidentally tightening his grip on Azlyn’s arms. The knight squeaks in surprise and forcibly extracts herself from the entanglement.

The king makes his way down the short staircase to the reactor, Cid and the Flynn-Fletcher boys following behind him. He doesn’t take his eyes off the two lovebirds for a moment, a small, bemused grin decorating his features.

“Go ahead and say what you’re gonna say already,” Azlyn grumbles, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. “I can tell you’re not mad.”

The king chuckles, shaking his head. “Well gosh, why would I be mad? I had a major bet going with Donald that you two would get together before Azlyn turned eighteen!”

“I get a percentage of that right?”

Beside Azlyn, Telary lets out the breath he’d been holding.

“Well, I suppose it would only be fair,” the king agrees, still quite amused at the whole situation. He finally stops in front of the pair, close enough that they can make out tears in his eyes.

“Your Majesty?” Telary blurts, frowning. “Are you okay?”

The king wipes his eye with one gloved finger. “I’m just so happy for the two of you!”

Azlyn reacts first, reaching down to scoop up Mickey and twirl him around in a hug. Telary laughs once, crying a little bit himself at the moment, and joins in on the embrace.

Sora watches it all, a bittersweet feeling churning inside him. It’s the same way he’d felt at the Disney Castle trio’s initial reunification: longing for a reunion of his own.

“Musta been some brawl you had,” Cid’s gruff voice suddenly sounds behind the Keybearer. Sora turns to see the engineer gesturing to the broken power cable hanging over one of the consoles.

The Keybearer’s bittersweet feeling turns simply sour, the image of Demyx smoking and dying replaying in his mind, still fresh. He’d felt numb at the initial event, too hyped on adrenaline and concern for Azlyn to think of what was actually happening. Reflecting on it after the fact, however, he almost wants to hurl.

“The bastards did a number on the damned defense system, no doubt about that,” Cid says to Phineas and Ferb, apparently unconcerned with using such harsh language in front of them. For their part the kids just nod, already going through the innards of another control panel.

“How long is it gonna take to get it back up?” Sora asks, concerned with the massive force of Heartless undoubtedly still terrorizing the town.

“It’ll be a while,” Phineas sighs, already grabbing some tools from a small box. Perry sits beside it, his “placid pet” disguise firmly in place. “Five minutes, maybe more.”

Sora frowns. “Five minutes, that’s all?”

Phineas nods, looking a bit bewildered. “Our record for a complete reboot is two minutes.” He glares playfully at his stepbrother. “But we could have been faster if _someone_ hadn’t been staring at Miss Gainsborough.”

Sora raises an eyebrow and looks to Ferb, who raises a debonair eyebrow in reply. When the green-haired boy turns back to assist his brother, Sora makes his way over to Mickey and his companions.

“So, Maleficent _and_ Organization XIII were here,” Mickey is saying, scratching at his chin in a very concerned way. “Double the trouble. But, with the defense grid up again soon, we can concentrate on taking the fight to them.”

“You mean that big tower out in the canyons?” Telary asks. “Whichever of our enemies are behind this, they must be using it as their base.”

Azlyn grimaces. “Yeah, but that’s miles outside the city. No way could we make it in time to stop anybody, not on foot.”

An idea sparks suddenly in Sora’s mind. He turns to where the Flynn-Fletchers are working diligently to restore power.                                                                           

“If we need a ride” he says with the slightest of grins, “then I think I know where we can get one.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Leon swings the gunblade down again, cutting through what has to be the hundredth Armored Knight in the last hour. Turning his head, he spies Quistis fighting not far away, her whip proving useful in swatting Heartless out of the air. Behind him, he can hear Cloud slicing through more opponents with his huge sword.

The vast blue expanse of the Hollow Bastion Badlands stretches out below him, the massive force of Heartless continuing their march on his city. If it weren’t for having the high ground, and the relative weakness of each individual Heartless, things would be a lot worse.

Not that they’re great at the moment, of course. Most of the defense force remains inside the walls, helping civilians against those Heartless that have inserted themselves inside the walls. That leaves only Leon and his two compatriots to hold the line at the massive hole in the side of the wall by the bailey.

Once again, a force of Armored Knights charges up the ridge. Leon gets the leader with his first swipe, then brings his sword back around to knock into another’s shoulder. The blade doesn’t penetrate the Heartless’s thick armor, but it does send the creature tumbling backwards. It collides with two of its brethren, who fall back into five more. The chain reaction grows and grows, and suddenly an avalanche of Heartless go plummeting down the mountain.

Leon stops to watch his work, making the mistake of taking his focus off the battle. Only the loud buzzing of propellers prompts him to look up to see a swarm of Surveillance Robots descending on him. Grimacing, the main raises his blade again.

Just as the first wave is about to crash into him, the familiar form of the Buster Sword swipes through the air, dissecting a line of five Heartless. Cloud twists in midair, coming to rest on his feet beside Leon.

“I guess it’s true, what they say about being the man in charge,” the blond man comments with a playful smirk. “Dulls your fighting spirit.”

Leon rolls his eyes, running through two Armored Knights with one thrust. “I’m actually surprised to see you out here, Cloud. Must be cutting into your brooding time.”

“Like you’re one to talk.”

Leon’s retort dies on his tongue as a group of a dozen Heartless finally organize themselves for a proper charge. The playful energy of the moment evaporates, and the two men prepare for battle once again.

“No matter what happens,” Leon barks as Quistis joins the defensive line, “we hold them here. We can’t let them get into the city.”

The Heartless are only a few yards away now, a green-armored Morning Star leading the charge. The deadly sharp tip of its spikes gleam in the afternoon sun. Leon barely has time to grit his teeth before the creature and its subordinates reach resistance.

Several feet before they expected to encounter it.

“Get back!” Sora calls out, his shout muffled by the huge impact of Phineas and Ferb’s mechanical canine landing on the blue stone. “Get back into the city, quick!”

Azlyn, Telary, and King Mickey leap off the robot’s back, immediately taking out what Heartless they can. Sora remains atop the Robodog, swatting airborne enemies down.

Leon hesitates for barely a second before responding to the Keybearer’s orders. Immediately he and his two compatriots fall back, turning and running for the hole in the city wall.

It isn’t long before the Restoration Committee members are through the gap. Leon’s gaze immediately swivels back to the fighting quartet, silently wondering what their plan could be.

King Mickey suddenly starts, and with a single nod from him the heroic trio begin their own retreat. Telary provides cover fire as the other two back towards the wall. A few Armored Knights sneak past, but Sora quickly shuts them down.

“Leon!” Quistis exclaims from his right. The committee leader turns to his former mentor just in time to see the family orange flash of a claymore security laser. He allows himself a small smirk as he realizes Mickey’s plan.

The outside defenders reach the gap, Azlyn and Sora diving in first, followed by Telary, then finally Mickey. Then the Heartless come, too simpleminded to recognize what can only be a trap.

The first claymore erupts into a column of orange flame at a perfect sweet spot between two Heartless, sending them both flying up into the air. They quickly disintegrate, but by then it’s no longer remarkable, dozens of claymores bursting upward to eliminate Heartless.

Leon watches it all with a sense of fierce proud, quietly overjoyed at his city’s superior defense. This place is a safe haven for his people, now and forever.

The fireworks show dies out within seconds, the Heartless wising up that their entry point is no longer leading anywhere they’ll want to go. The sound of hundreds of dark portals opening and closing echoes throughout the ruined bailey.

“The city should be safe now,” Mickey informs Leon, surveying the empty courtyard and the cliffs beyond. “The Heartless won’t be able to bother you anymore.”

“Not without getting their asses vaporized, anyway,” Azlyn chuckles. Mickey gives her a momentary look, and the knight frowns. “Forgive my language, Your Majesty.”

“So it’s all over then?” Quistis asks, looking hopeful.

Sora steps up and shakes his head. “No, not yet. Not until Maleficent is dealt with.”

Leon frowns at the mention of the jade-skinned witch. “So, she’s back for more. I should have guessed the second I saw that tower pop up.” The gunblade wielder casts his gaze around the ruined outpost. “I should’ve done something immediately. Now, because I _didn’t_ …”

“It’s gonna be okay, Leon,” Quistis assures her old pupil, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. On the man’s other side, Cloud reluctantly follows suit.

“For some reason the Organization was involved, too,” Azlyn says. “But Sora and Telary took care of that.”

The boys exchange slightly queasy looks. Sora shudders, almost able to hear the sizzling sound of Demyx’s death in his ears once again.

“Now, it’s Maleficent’s turn,” the knight continues, patting Robodog on its side. The metal canine barks once affectionately.

“The four of us will ride out to that tower and confront her,” Mickey adds.

“I’m going with you,” Leon insists, stepping forward only to be held back by Quistis and Cloud.

“You’re needed here,” Quistis argues, shaking her head firmly. “Things are gonna be bad out there, and the people need to see their leader.”

Leon looks like he wants to argue, but thinks better of it. He scowls, fiercely shaking off the blonde woman’s hand. “You’re right,” he sighs after a moment.

“It’s alright, Leon, we can take care of it,” Telary assures his friend. “After all, this is our home too.”

“I can go with you,” Cloud offers, shrugging once.

Mickey shakes his head. “I’m afraid me and the kids are all we can afford to pack on.”

Leon nods, though it’s clearly a struggle to accept his role. “Okay, good. I trust you four to handle it.”

“We will,” Sora swears, Telary pulling him up onto Robodog’s back. Once all four are secured, they head off through the wall.

Robodog takes a running leap off the cliff, landing on the blue stone several dozen feet below with a fierce jolt. The impact rocks its riders, but they hold on as their transport takes off into the wild blue yonder.

The canyons are surprisingly empty, as if all of the Heartless have simply given up. Or, more likely, are just biding their time.

“I don’t like this,” Azlyn says with a grimace, shouting to be heard over the rush of the wind.

“Keep an eye out!” Mickey warns, jolting several inches into the air as Robodog leaps over a particularly large blue rock. In the distance, Maleficent’s tower looms ever closer.

Sora is just about to say something when Robodog once again plows through a rough patch, nearly throwing him and his companions from its back. He catches a glimpse of the ground below, but it looks as smooth as ever.

He’s just about to point out the discrepancy when the transport shakes again, then again. Each tremor seems to grow stronger than the last, each in a steady rhythm. The quartet look around frantically, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever is causing the ground to shake.

Azlyn opens her mouth, a smart-mouth comment almost visible on the tip of her tongue. Then the Behemoth leaps over the cliffs behind them, sending the words back into her throat.

The great creature lands heavily, the impact of its bulky frame staggering Robodog and throwing back all of its riders. The beast is massive, with a gunmetal grey torso, dark brown legs, and armored pauldrons on its shoulders. Two huge tusks curve upwards out of its mouth, ending in wicked points above its face. A blood red horn protrudes from the center of its forehead, and its yellow eyes burn with fierce hatred and hunger.

Spotting its prey, the Heartless bounds after them.

“GO!” Azlyn shouts at Robodog, furiously banging her hand against its metal back. The mechanical canine roughly barks a response, and suddenly the journey’s speed is tripled.

The Behemoth doesn’t seem to care, something like a smile decorating its massive mouth. The four little hearts before it can run all they like. It is the apex predator, created for this very purpose. And today, it _will_ feast.

Despite the speed of their doglike vehicle, the creature quickly gains, roaring a challenge. It lowers its head, rapidly approaching the fleeing party with its horn outstretched, the spear-sharp tip glinting in the afternoon sun.

Robodog leaps to the side as the horn sweeps upward, propelled by the Behemoth’s massive head. Sora watches it go past, remembering facing a similar (though significantly smaller) version of this Heartless in the past. He wracks his brain for a weakness he might be able to exploit, but in all the terror and adrenaline of the moment he can hardly think.

Mickey needs no time to think however. Concentrating, the mouse king thrusts out the golden tip of his Keyblade, flinging a fireball the size of his head at the pursuing monstrosity.  It impacts against the Behemoth’s face, and the great Heartless staggers back, losing ground as it cries out in pain and rage.

Telary immediately follows up on his king’s attack, summoning two fist-sized fireballs that home in immediately for the Behemoth’s eyes. They miss their marks by inches, but once again the Heartless roars in pain.

But such trivial pains are as nothing to a creature such as it, and with gritted teeth it shakes off its injuries. The hunt has change now, no longer the playful affair it was before. Now, it’s time to pull out its ultimate weapon.

Noticing that the Heartless is pulling back even further, Azlyn lets out an excited whoop. Until, that is, she looks up and sees that the red horn of the Behemoth is glowing with an unearthly light, slowly building up a charge. Accompanied by the sound of a hundred electric generators powering up at once, the display takes her breath away. Her mouth falls open dumbly as a ray of red fire, as thick around as the Gummi ship, shoots directly at them. The light coming off the beam bathes the canyons in red, turning them dark purple.

Robodog’s sensors, finely tuned by the boy genii Phineas and Fern, detect the energy discharge as soon as it fires. Despite the quickness of mechanical reflexes, it barely manages to leap to the side.

The beam crashes into the rock, drilling a hole at least twenty feet deep. Blue stone and dirt flies up like water from a spout. The sheer force of impact shakes the ground like a blow from a giant sledgehammer, sending Robodog flying into the air gracelessly. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary let out terrified screams, clinging to each other tightly. Only Mickey remains stoic, his face locked in an unbelievably calm expression.

It flips over, sheer inertia the only thing keeping its screaming passengers from falling off its back and to the ground below. With a short bark of determination it lands correctly, all four metal paws planted firmly on solid ground.

The bump of landing jolts the trio out of their terrified fits, their screams abruptly ceasing. Sora risks a cautious glance backwards, and pales as he realizes that the Behemoth has not been deterred in the least.

The race is on again, Robodog once again only barely managing to outpace the monstrosity on its tail. Its metal joints squeal and squeak with every moment, strained to their very limits.

“Look!” Mickey calls out over the rushing wind and booming impacts of the Behemoth’s feet. “Up ahead!”

The trio’s gazes follow his black-gloved finger to a ravine only about a hundred yards up ahead, a thin gap surrounded by hundred-foot blue cliffs. Immediately they can tell that the crevice is far too narrow for the Behemoth to fit through. It seems now that all they have to do is keep going, outpacing the Heartless just long enough to…

Red light catches in the corner of Sora’s vision, and the horrible sound of the charging horn-beam stabs at his ears like a knife. Robodog picks up on it too, racing even faster forward, straining against all of its limits.

The ravine is yards away now, the group within seconds of reaching safety. Azlyn bangs her hand against the mechanical canine’s back, urging even more speed. The robot immediately complies, thrusting its front right foot out as quickly as it can.

The impact of paw against stone is muffled by a sudden loud _pop_ , as finally the appendages of the quartet’s transport meet their limits. Robodog’s leg collapses, breaking up into a dozen pieces.

The mechanical canine lets out a pitiful sounding bark as it crashes into the ground, skidding several feet along the canyon floor. Its passengers resume screaming, but their cries are drowned out by the sound of the Behemoth’s beam firing.

The column of fire misses them by inches, the out-of-control machine scraping just out of reach. Heat blossoms from the beam as it carves another hole in the ground. The ground shakes, thrusting Robodog up into the air and flipping it over.

Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Mickey jump off at the height of the arc, crashing into the canyon floor. Pain wracks their bodies, and immediately Azlyn and Telary black out.

Sora flips over once more and lands on his back, darkness encroaching on the edges of his vision. When he finally slides to a halt, he looks up to see the Behemoth readying itself for another charge, one there will be no chance of outrunning.

Fighting against his aching bones and muscles, the Keybearer pushes himself up. Pain shoots through him though, and with a cry he collapses back to the ground, spent.

His head lolls to the side, affording him a sight that sends a ray of hope shooting through his heart. Mickey stands firmly planted on the ground, shining golden Keyblade in hand.

The mouse king charges forward, his cloak whipping along behind him in the wind. With a grunt Sora rises (painfully) into a sitting position, looking forward to the coming fight with a kind of morbid fascination.

A feeling the Behemoth evidently shares, glaring down at its miniscule opponent like a bug to be squished, Keyblade or no. With a roar of challenge it charges forward, intent on ending this battle with a single footstep.

Narrowing his eyes and gripping his Keyblade tightly, Mickey starts a charge of his own. The king runs full tilt at the Heartless without a trace of fear.

The Behemoth stretches out its cloven foot to stomp the small Keybearer, but Mickey easily dodges to the side. He lands, gathers himself, and launches towards the creature’s left leg like a rocket. Flipping over, he plants his feet on the trunk of the leg and pushes off into a backflip.

Behemoth tracks the king’s movement with its eyes, watching as he stops midair with a twist and slashes out. The golden Kingdom Key-D slashes against the Heartless’s face.

The creature rears back and howls, then pitches forward as Mickey lands on the ground. The mouse king nimbly dodges the Behemoth’s cloven hooves, but lands awkwardly as the huge feet impact against the canyon floor and cause a tremor. Taking advantage the Heartless swipes sideways with its hoof, but Mickey simply flips forward twice to avoid being swept away. Midair he once again stops and turns, this time slicing his Keyblade through the back of the creature’s leg.

Behemoth stumbles forward as pain shoots through it once again. Mickey wastes no time rushing up the creature’s back legs, his Keyblade swishing side to side to make numerous shallow cuts and further dilute his opponent’s focus. The Heartless sways from side to side, but somehow Mickey manages to keep his footing and momentum.

Left without any other choice, the Behemoth growls and rises up on its hind legs, ignoring its numerous small injuries.  Mickey yelps in surprise and stumbles back, falling all the way to the canyon floor. He tucks and rolls immediately, however, and sustains minimal damage.

Behemoth brings its forelegs down, then immediately kicks back in hopes of knocking the key-wielding mouse into the canyon wall, stun him.

The attack comes too fast for Mickey to move, so instead he raises his gloved hand and mutters a simple spell. A solid barrier of white light surrounds him, and instead of flying back he merely skids several feet back along the ground, dust and pebbles flying up outside the barrier.

It isn’t much, but it’s enough for the Behemoth to press the advantage, quickly turning with its red horn already powering up. But Sora can see immediately that this attack will be different, the creature’s curved tusks lighting up as well.

Rather than a beam, Behemoth creates an orb of its own. Purple and black shadow energy surrounds a raging red core. With a groan the Heartless releases its orb, sending it flying into the air.

The dark sphere bubbles and rages, then explodes into a hundred identical globes of Darkness. All of them head straight for Mickey.

The tiny Keybearer grits his teeth and calls up another barrier spell, several dozen dark attacks exploding harmlessly against it. But even the king’s power is not unlimited, and another volley of Darkness shatters his protection spell into a million fragments of light.

Mickey is prepared, however, flicking and spinning his Keyblade around his body. The remaining spheres impact against it, exploding instantly into harmless flickers of pitch black energy.

Knocking one last orb aside, Mickey lowers his head and charges forward. The stray orb glances against the hem of his flapping coat, igniting it in purple flames. Mickey barely takes note, casually tossing the dark coat off with his free hand to reveal a red and yellow outfit. The mouse king never falters a step.

Behemoth notices the charge and roars, already hunkering down to make its own run. Mickey doesn’t give the creature time to do any more than that, leaping straight for the underside of its jaw. Behemoth attempts to rise, but Mickey is already there, slashing through the beast’s chin again. On the way down the king twists, sending another Light orb spell directly into the wound he just created.

Mickey lands to the creature’s right and jumps, scoring a powerful hit on the opposite side of its head, then following it up with the same orb of Light spell. The Behemoth is staggered, falling to its knees.

Mickey is already off and running, leaping up to scurry up the nearest cliff. At halfway up its face, the king leaps backwards, launching himself at his massive opponent.

The Kingdom Key-D penetrates the Behemoth’s skull at the exact center.

The Heartless roars and shakes, trying to dislodge the weapon jammed in its head, but Mickey keeps the pressure on his blade, refusing to let it slip. Raising his right hand, Mickey once again gathers pure Light in an orb. As soon as the ball is formed, the king slams it straight into Behemoth’s head.

The Light spreads along the creature’s body like a flood, disintegrating the dark flesh of the monstrosity and leaving nothing behind. Mickey falls to the canyon floor on all fours, panting and huffing as the Heartless fades into darkness, releasing the captive heart within.

Sora falls back himself, staring numbly up at the sky. He’d known that the king was powerful, but he’d had no idea that the little mouse could use magic and his Keyblade to such an impressive extent.

“Wow,” is all the young Keybearer can say as his older counterpart offers him a hand up. When he finally stands, he can only look down at the king in awe. “Your Majesty, that was amazing!”

“Aw, shucks!” the king exclaims, shuffling one yellow-shoed foot in the blue dirt. “I was just tryin’ to keep it from hurtin’ you kids.”

Two matched sets of groans sound out nearby, and the Keyblade wielders turn to see Azlyn and Telary helping each other up, shaking off the dull ache in their bones and muscles.

“Are you kids okay?” Mickey asks as the group reconvenes around Robodog’s remains. All of them are trying their hardest to not look into the mechanical canine’s lifeless sockets.

“We’re fine,” Telary assures the king. Beside him, Azlyn grunts once affirmatively. “All thanks to you of course, Your Majesty!”

“You should have seen it!” Sora gushes in admiration, grinning. “It was, like, the greatest fighting I’ve ever seen in my life! Seriously, he was like…”

“Sora,” Mickey admonishes the boy gently. The other Keybearer’s mouth immediately clamps shut. “I’m afraid the story tellin’ is gonna have to wait. We still got a job to do, remember?”

“Sir, yes sir!” Sora, Azlyn, and Telary declare, instantly lining up and snapping to attention, hands raised in salute.

Mickey nods once, a hint of a grin playing across his lips. “Good. Now c’mon, the tower should be right through that ravine.”

The gap between the cliffs is rather narrow, forcing the party to move along single file. Sunlight from above reflects off of numerous blue crystals jutting out of the canyon walls, bathing the crack in an almost eerie light.

“So, uh, Your Majesty,” Telary speaks up after a moment, turning sideways to dodge a protruding crystal. “Not that I don’t have confidence in you, of course I do, but… What exactly is the plan once we get to that tower?”

“ _Plan_?” Azlyn exclaims, snorting slightly. “Who needs a plan when you’ve got four bada… Uh, four great warriors on your side?”

Mickey chuckles. “Y’know, in this case Azlyn’s sort of right. You three have handled Maleficent on your own before.”

“Hopefully this time she doesn’t get all dragony,” Sora comments, shaking his head and actually scraping his temple on a crystal. “That wasn’t very much fun. Well, until the part where I threw the Keyblade into her heart.”

“ _That’s_ how you slayed Maleficent?” Mickey says, sounding impressed. “Gosh, that’s way more impressive than me takin’ on one little old Behemoth.”

“So,” Telary buts in as the head of the procession, Mickey, begins to approach the ravine’s exit, “just to reiterate, there’s no real plan whatsoever? Because, to be honest, that sounds kind of…”

“Relax, Tel,” Azlyn interrupts her boyfriend, waiting for Sora to exit so she can follow. “There isn’t gonna be anything we can’t handle out…”

Telary, concerned about the sudden interrupt, as well as the silence of his other companions, quickly shuffles through the narrow crack and out into the open. What he sees stops him in his tracks, right alongside the others.

The top quarter of Maleficent’s tower, along with the roof and of course the giant red Heartless symbol stamped on it, rises above yet another gap between two blue cliffs, though this one is a bit wider.

In front of that is a huge open space, surrounded by gently sloping cliffs. It looks to be a good mile long, and at least half again as wide. It’s as barren as the rest of the wasteland, clear of any indication that any living thing could or would wish to survive here.

It is also _full_ of Heartless. Armored Knights fill almost every conceivable space, thousands at the least. They’re all standing as still as statues, but just the sheer quantity is enough to give even the bravest heroes pause.

Which is exactly what’s happening now.

“Okay,” Telary speaks up after a moment of awed/fearful gazing. “This might not be the best time to say it, but this scenario is kind of why I suggested we make some kind of plan.”

“They’re all just standing there,” Sora notes. “What’s with them?”

“Has Maleficent had all of these Heartless the whole time?” Azlyn asks, not expecting an answer. “We might have underestimated Pete a little.”

Mickey suddenly snaps to, and the trio follow his gaze up to the top of a nearby cliff. A man in a black cloak stands there, featureless hood gazing down at the heroes.

After a moment of staring each other down, the Organization member raises its gloved hands and pulls back the hood. Silver hair falls out to frame a gaunt but attractive face, yellow eyes gazing imperiously down into the Great Maw. Eyes with no emotion whatsoever.

“Wait a minute!” Azlyn exclaims, drawing her shield and stepping back into a fighting stance. “That’s the guy in the picture! The guy who’s not Ansem!”

“Offhand, I’d say it’s his Nobody,” Telary suggests, shakily drawing his staff from its holster.

Sora’s eyes narrow on the man. “The leader of Organization XIII!”

Mickey takes several steps back, eyes widening as realization dawns on him. “Wait a minute, now I know!”

“Know what?” Azlyn asks.

“The man in the picture, that’s Ansem's apprentice Xehanort!” Mickey declares. “And _that’s_ Xehanort’s Nobody! He’s the leader of Organization XIII!”

“So, what does that…?” Sora begins, only to be cut off by the sound of Mickey’s Keyblade appearing in the mouse king’s hand, shining as brightly as the sun above. He appears not to hear the boy, gritting his teeth and immediately rushing after the Organization’s leader. “Your Majesty!”

He moves to follow the king, but the Heartless spring into action as well, the entire horde rushing forward and trapping the trio against the cliffs behind them. Sora tears his gaze away from the retreating king and instead faces them, thousands of monsters fixated entirely on devouring the hearts of him and his friends.

“So, Sora,” Azlyn says with characteristic confidence, loud enough to be heard over the sound of Kingdom Key appearing. “Which do you want: the thousand on the left, or the thousand on the right?”

Sora gulps, swallowing his fear and forcibly pulling all the bravado he can from the depths of his heart. “Gee, Azlyn, I was gonna let you pick. Ladies first and all that.”

The knight snorts. “Why do you think _I_ asked _you_?”

“Y’know, I’d ask you two to take this more seriously,” Telary practically sighs. “But if you’re not automatically doing that in _this_ situation, then there really is no hope for either of you.”

Sora shakes his head, turning to look at his companions. They’ve followed him to the absolute edge of reason before, and beyond even that. If the confident grins and thumbs up they’re giving him is any indication, they’re willing to do the same now.

“Alright guys,” the Keybearer declares, gripping his weapon tightly in both hands, legs bending in anticipation. “Let’s do this.”

As one, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary let out wordless cries and spring forward. More than two thousand versus three. Bad odds.

For the Heartless.


	36. Showdown At Hollow Bastion

“Aargh!” Sora cries out, slashing downward to neatly bisect an Armored Knight. Grunting, the boy turns to the left and raises his blade, neatly intersecting the strikes of three more Heartless.

He turns the blade aside and leaps forward, slashing horizontally through them with his blade. Taking a step back, he bashes in the face of another enemy behind him.

_Slash, stab, block, dodge… Slash, dodge, block, stab… Slash, slash, slash…_

A sudden stinging pain intrudes on his battle haze, and without thinking Sora cuts through the Armored Knight that delivered the blow. Looking down, he quickly assesses that the shallow cut shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance. That done, he turns back to the fight and lets the pain fade away from his senses.

He’s not sure how long he’s been doing this, lost in the ugly, madcap rhythm of battle. Minutes, hours, he can’t say. All he knows is the fight. With Heartless surrounding him on all sides, stopping even for a second to properly think could prove deadly.

_Stab, block, slash, stab, slash… Block, stab, slash, slash, slash, block, stab… Slash, stab, slash…_

**_BOOM_ **

The sudden noise, deeper and louder than any of the small but plentiful footsteps of the Armored Knights, finally snaps Sora out of his haze. Looking towards the noise’s source, he spots a Dual Blade making its way through a crowd of lesser Heartless. Surveillance Robots hover around its body like royal attendants.

The Keybearer grits his teeth and slashes through two more Armored Knights, taking a step back and trying to come up with a plan that goes further than reacting instinctively. Last time he’d fought a Heartless of this type he’d has his friends’ assistance, and the useful environmental features of bookshelves. There’s nothing but bare blue rock now. Well, and hundreds of Heartless.

They surround him once more, forcing the Keybearer back into his instinctual mode, all thoughts of plans and strategy for the Dual Blade forgotten in the rush of battle. Until a heavy footfall not five feet away finally snaps Sora to attention.

He cuts down an Armored Knight and snaps his head up to the huge opponent, its crystal blue blade already raised. Gritting his teeth, Sora raises the Keyblade and hopes it’s enough to save him…

Until a loud, familiar battle cry cuts through the air. Sora turns to see Azlyn, as bruised and bloody as he is himself, flying towards the Dual Blade’s face. Her fist is reared back, and her eyes glint with steely determination.

Her bellow attracts the Dual Blade’s attention as well. Its head snaps around just in time to meet Azlyn’s fist head on. Its neck snaps to the side, and the creature stumbles back. To Sora the whole thing seems to happen in slow motion. Then Azlyn cries out again, in pain this time instead of rage.

She falls back toward the rocky blue ground, face muscles clenched. Her left hand grips her right arm tightly, drawing it close to her chest and keeping it there.  She turns to land on her back, kicking up blue dust and pebbles as she impact against the ground.

Sora rushes towards her, competing against nearly a dozen Armored Knights to get there first. He leaps the last few feet, horizontally swinging his blade with enough force to bisect nearly all of the Heartless. He turns midair and manages to land on his feet. He plants them firmly and slashes again, driving back another enemy group.

Azlyn shakes her head to clear it and attempts to rise, but cries out once again halfway through her attempt. She falls back once more, still clutching her arm.

The Armored Knights have cleared out, but the Dual Blade has recovered from the heavy blow it received. It stalks towards the pair, and Sora can see minute cracks in its armored head, spreading out from Azlyn’s point of impact. A deep dent can be seen right at the point where fist met head.

Sora almost makes a quick quip down to his friend, but decides better of it as three Surveillance Robots break off and shoot toward him. They fire some lasers, but Sora quickly holds out the Keyblade and spins it twice in his hands, deflecting the shots. The Heartless are in front of him now, and he snaps out three quick swipes that take care of them.

Then the Dual Blade is back, rushing at him with speed that would shame the Behemoth. Sora grits his teeth and charges right back at it, though what he’ll do once they clash he has no idea.

He quickly gets one just as the creature is approaching, thinking back to how the king had handled an enemy of superior size. He quickly angles himself so that he runs _under_ the Heartless, then turns and quickly slashes through the back of its legs.

The Dual Blade makes no sound of pain, only stumbling and losing its footing. Sora takes advantage, bringing the Keyblade down on its right leg once more. The blow manages to cut straight through, and the creature falls as it loses its balance completely.

The impact of the Dual Blade against the ground nearly causes Sora to lose his footing, and Azlyn actually bounces up two inches into the air. She mutters some kind of obscenity as she lands, but Sora can’t make it out. He steps forward and plunges his weapon straight down, cutting through the Dual Blade’s chest. It fades into Darkness, and its pink crystal heart floats upwards through the air.

Sora turns to check on Azlyn, but halfway there he hears a loud _boom_ that sounds more like an explosion than an enormous footstep. He turns a little more and looks up, to where Telary is backing down a ridge, pursued by a large phalanx of Heartless. The wizard mutters something and shoots the largest fireball Sora has ever seen him make straight into the air. The fireball rests above the Heartless and proceeds to explode, dozens of tiny flaming spheres descending on them.

It’s quite a disruption for the group, and Telary takes advantage of it to turn and race down the ridge. The Heartless remain dazed and off-balance, and Sora rushes to assist his older friend.

“Telary, down here!” Sora calls as he runs. The wizard takes note of the younger boy’s position and adjusts his course to meet him. “You’ve gotta come this way, Azlyn got really hurt!”

Telary grimaces, then looks over to his girlfriend. The grimace only grows, and he sighs resignedly, tapping his fist against the head of his staff.

“I don’t have much left in me, Sora,” he explains balefully. Up on the ridge, the Heartless have reorganized. It’s only a matter of seconds before they pursue. “If she really needs it, I think I’ve got a potion…”

“Go to her,” Sora says, his voice commanding but undeniably weary. He pats his friend on the arm a few times. “I can hold off the Heartless here.”

Telary looks the Keybearer over, still frowning. After a moment, he shakes his head. “No, I’m sorry Sora, but you can’t. None of us are hardly in any shape to fight, not with all the Heartless coming our way.”

Both boys look up to see the horde once again charging, still at least two hundred strong. Against three battered and tired opponents, they’ll win easily.

“We can’t give up!” Sora says, already tugging Telary towards where Azlyn is resting. “We just need to regroup and figure out a plan. Do you have any spells left that could keep the Heartless back?”

Telary shake his head, but all the while he’s looking Sora over. “I’m out, but I think I’ve got one you could use.”

He quickly explains the concept, and for a few seconds the boys outright ignore the horde coming after them. It’s a very dangerous play, but if the spell doesn’t go off correctly they’re doomed anyway.

As soon as he’s sure he’s got it, Sora lets Telary run back to Azlyn, stepping up to face the approaching foes. The Keybearer concentrates, focusing on the enhanced Magnet spell that is this larger spell’s cornerstone.

As he concentrates, a sphere of silvery light forms at the Keyblade’s tip, surrounded by a bright halo of energy. Closing his eyes, Sora focuses on connecting the spell to the metallic materials of the Hollow Bastion rock.

He raises the Keyblade, and the earth moves up with the motion. Columns of blue stone and dirt rise from the ground around the Heartless. Only a few make direct contact, sending the creatures hurtling into the air. But the main effect of the spell is solid, the shaking of the earth throwing the dark beings off balance. And even once the magic has faded, there’s still a veritable maze of pillars to navigate, hampering the group’s speed.

Sora doesn’t even wait around to see the fruits of his labor, sprinting back to his friends. Azlyn is sitting upright when he gets there, Telary helping her to down the potion.

She only gets a little in before she coughs, sending most of the green liquid back up to land on the canyon floor. The aura that surrounds her is faint, but at least she stops wincing so hard.

“You okay?” Sora asks tentatively.

“Oh, yeah, I’m just great here Sora,” she shoots back venomously. “I mean, I only just broke my arm saving you, no big deal. Not that it did any good, mind you, since that Heartless horde is gonna stomp over here and eat our hearts, or whatever it is they do exactly. So, hey, I’m doing _great_.”

Sora sighs, slumping down and letting his head fall listlessly. “I know, things aren’t looking good right now.”

Azlyn snorts. “An understatement, buddy.”

Telary gives his counterpart a sharp look. “Azlyn, c’mon. We’re _all_ feeling the pressure here, not just you.”

The knight sighs. “Yeah, I know. Sorry Sora.”

The boy in question gives her one of his signature smiles. “It’s okay, Azlyn.”

“Not a bad twenty four hours to go out on, to be honest,” she continues, sounding almost wistful. “I mean sure there’s _this_ shitshow, but at least I took a crapton of Heartless with me.”

“How many?” Sora asks.

“About a thousand.”

The boy rolls his eyes, chuckling. “Oh, yeah _right_. I counted six hundred and ten, by the way.”

“So, that’s what you’ve liked most about your last twenty four hours?” Telary asks playfully.

Azlyn lets out a matching laugh and reaches out, taking his hand. “No, not by a longshot.” The pair come together for a quick but meaningful kiss.

Sora smiles at the pair, thinking of how deeply their hearts are connected…

“Wait a minute!” the Keybearer declares, springing to his feet. Behind him he can hear the Heartless forming up for another charge. “That’s it, why didn’t I think of it!”

Azlyn and Telary give him puzzled looks. “Think of what, Sora?” the wizard asks.

Sor grins down at the pair, sticking out his hand palm-down. “All for one,” he says through a grin.

The Disney Castle duo don’t hesitate to put their hands atop his. Sora closes his eyes and concentrates, the point of contact between the trio beginning to glow with a golden light.

The Heartless have regrouped, and begin sprinting en masse for the heroes. They can practically feel the hearts they are about to consume.

“And one for all!”

_“Okay, I’ll go with you guys.”_

_“You won’t. Not without me, anyway.”_

_“No matter what, guys… I love you both. Thanks.”_

The Light extends out in a wave, engulfing the trio as it molds them into one being, linked together by their many memories.

It fades out to reveal Sora standing alone, dressed in yellow with silver saltires decorating the hems of his sleeves. In his right hand he grips the Kingdom Key as usual. Oathkeeper floats just inches above Sora’s left hand, slowly spinning as it waits for a command.

Sora turns to face the Heartless horde, full of a power like he’s never known before. The power of friendship, wired directly into his body like the Hollow Bastion Reactor. Magic, physical strength, agility… All his to command.

Grinning with the spirit of three beings, Sora charges forth. He closes his eyes as he goes, already preparing a spell that will easily break the enemy line.

“FIRAGA!” he yells as he leaps at the leading Heartless. Flames surround his body in a nimbus of heat, burning through the Heartless before he can blink.

The enemy charge breaks, the Heartless feeling as much fear as their simple minds can comprehend. Sora takes advantage and attacks physically, the Keyblade in his hand slashing outwards as the one floating around him shoots forward as if thrown.

He chops and slices and dices, even his kicks managing to shatter Heartless bodies. A stream of crystal pink hearts fly into the air so fast one couldn’t possibly count them. After a particularly devastating combo, Sora begins spinning in a circle, the still whirling Oathkeeper matching him like a moon in orbit. As he spins he can feel the Heartless drawing closer, losing their footing and flying towards their destruction.

Seven, eight, ten Heartless are destroyed in the blink of an eye, still more being drawn in. Every Heartless down only increases Sora’s power, until finally the buildup is so intense that the energy explodes outwards. The blast of Light chews through a dozen Armored Knights at once, and throws back even more.

Still feeling the power of magic in his bones, Sora raises his hands and calls down a deluge of lightning strikes around him. They fall from the sky and crash into the remaining enemies, disintegrating them easily with their powerful heat.

When the last sound of thunder fades, the battlefield is empty. Standing along, Sora can only laugh as he surveys the empty valley. Even after all of the devastation and battle, it looks as if he’d only just walked into a calm canyon.

And with a flash he’s not alone, though he never really was. Azlyn and Telary stand beside him, neither one looking any worse for wear. All of their wounds have healed completely.

“That was…” Azlyn begins, then just shakes her head as she realizes that she doesn’t have the words for what they’d experienced.

“We do our best work together, that’s for sure!” Telary chimes in, smiling broadly.

“C’mon, we gotta find the king!” Sora declares, turning for the ravine at the valley’s far side.

As they go, Telary notices Sora frown, his entire brow crinkling. “What’s up, Sora?”

The Keybearer looks back at the wizard, gives him a small grin. “Oh, it’s nothing. I was just wondering if there was a way to explain that whole form-change thing without using the words ‘Azlyn and Telary were inside of me.”

  **KH-KH-KH**

They catch up to the king on the other side of the ravine. A large blue cliff, rounded like some kind of natural balcony, overlooks a vast field deep below. Across that gap is a plateau, and out from its peak rises Maleficent’s tower.

They find no evidence of the witch, however. Mickey is engaged in fierce combat, hopping around and slashing his Keyblade through a group of Armored Knights. The silver-haired man known only as Xehanort’s Nobody watches, his face impassive.

Finally Mickey cuts through the last Heartless. He lands, facing off against Xehanort’s Heartless across the blue stone protrusion.

“Don’t worry Your Majesty!” Telary calls as the trio rush up behind the Keybearer king. “We’re here!”

“You ain’t getting away this time, Xehanort!” Azlyn declares, her fists balled up in rage.

Xehanort’s Nobody tilts his head the slightest bit to the left, looking almost puzzled. “Xehanort… How long has it been since I cast off that name? Years, it must be.”

“You can save the weird speeches for later!” Sora says, gripping the Keyblade tightly in anger and defiance. “Right now, you’re gonna tell me where Riku and Kairi are!”

The Nobody seems only _more_ puzzled now. “Kairi? Hm, I’m afraid I have no knowledge of that person.” He smiles, a sickening joyless grin. “As for Riku, well… If you’re interested in his whereabouts, I suggest you consult with your king. He would know far better than I.”

Sora’s jaw suddenly drops, and he moves his gaze from the Nobody to King Mickey. “But, he said that he didn’t know about Riku!”

“Did he now?” Xehanort’s Nobody gloats. “Well, that’s all very interesting, isn’t it? It seems that your wise and revered king is keeping something from you.”

Mickey actually growls, stepping forward with his Keyblade brandished menacingly. “That’s enough outta you!”

“For once,” Organization XIII’s leader says with a slight, hollow laugh, “I believe you and I are in agreement.”

A dark portal rises up around the man, and without hesitation Mickey leaps after it. By the time the trio recover from their shock, the dark doorway is gone.

“Aaargh, _again_!” Azlyn rages, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Every time we see the king he pulls this disappearing act. Every time!”

“Now, now, Azlyn,” Telary interjects calmly. “The king must have had his reasons.”

“Yeah,” Sora agrees, his voice cold and sharp. He whirls to face his companions, scowling. “Like getting out of telling me about Riku.”

“Now, Sora, we don’t _know_ …”

“Yeah, that’s it exactly!” Sora declares, kicking at the ground. “We don’t know anything! Nobody will tell us!”

“Funny you should phrase it like that.”

Sora recognizes the voice, and the others are just keyed up in general, so they all turn to see the Nobody Sora recognizes as Axel. The one who kidnapped Kairi!

“What are you doing here?” Sora demands, stepping past his friends to get closer to the enemy. He opens his mouth to say more, but is cut off.

Axel smirks, leaning back against a blue rock wall. “Well, primarily I’m here to congratulate you for falling right into Organization XIII’s trap.” The smirk becomes a full grin, and the red-haired man actually has the gall to clap.

“What trap?” Azlyn asks, looking around warily for any threats.

“C’mon, guys, you’re being played like a damn fiddle!” Axel exclaims, exasperated. He pushes off the rock, losing his calm demeanor entirely. “Xemnas actually has _you_ completing his master plan!”

“Xemnas?” Telary says, frowning. “That was that guy we just saw, wasn’t it? Xehanort’s Nobody?”

Axel nods. “Yep. And with every Heartless destroyed, his goal inches closer to completion. Every slain Heartless releases a heart, and then he nabs them! Y’know, for a bunch of so-called ‘heroes’, you sure…”

“Where’s Kairi!” Sora demands, not wanting to hear one more single word from this Nobody’s mouth. “What did you do with her?”

“Tell us now!” Telary adds, stepping up beside Sora.

Axel looks between the pair of heroes and winces. His whole body physically recoils, and the smug look runs off his face like water off an umbrella.

“Look,” he says, turning his head to avoid the boys’ glares, “about Kairi… I’m sorry, okay!”

“If you’re so sorry, tell us where she is!” Sora yells, his teeth practically grinding together. “Now!”

“Sora,” Axel says slowly, his voice measured. He even makes eye contact. “And Telary, I suppose. The thing about Kairi is that…”

The rushing sound of a dark portal opening eats Axel’s words, and when the shadowy energy fades, Saïx stands between him and the trio.

“I’m beginning to wonder how you managed to evade us so long,” the blue-haired man says, his face as still and impassive as ever. “You didn’t even bother to get offworld.”

Axel shrugs, inexpertly faking nonchalance. “Well, I still had some stuff to do, y’see.”

Saïx spares the trio a blank look. “I see. It seems that one betrayal of the Organization just wasn’t enough for you, was it?”

Another shrug from the redhead. And with that, he disappears into yet another portal of Darkness.

Sora yells and rushes forward, but Saïx turns and backhands the Keybearer as he passes. With a grunt, Sora lands on the ground.

Reacting instinctively to seeing their friend hurt, Azlyn and Telary rush Saïx as well. The Nobody takes a single step back and summons two Dusks, who immediately swoop down and knock the pair away.

“If it’s revenge against Axel you’re looking for,” he informs the fallen heroes, “then worry not. When the Organization catches him, I’ll ensure he receives the maximum punishment. It’s no less than he deserves.”

Sora sighs, shaking his head with abject weariness. He looks up at the blue-haired Nobody, a pleading expression on his face.

“I don’t care about any of that!” the boy declares, his voice cracking in sorrow. “I only want to see Riku and Kairi again, that’s _all_!”

“So, it’s Kairi you’re worried about, then,” Saïx says passively. “Well, you don’t have to worry on that score, Sora. We are taking quite good…”

A fireball impacts against Saïx’s chest, sending the Nobody stumbling back several paces. When he recovers he sees Telary on his feet once more, teeth gritted. The wizard’s staff is still smoking from his spell.

“Take us to her _now_!” he declares, already prepping another spell. With a grunt he lets it fly, and this time the ball of flame burns bright white, heat coming off it in waves.

Saïx barely reacts, sidestepping the flaming orb as if it is merely a child’s ball. Sora comes in on his left, and the Nobody thrusts out a stiff arm that catches the Keybearer in the chest, pushing him back onto the ground. Azlyn attacks from the air then, while Saïx’s attention is on Sora. She snaps out a kick, but Saïx catches her ankle and easily throws her back several feet.

“I can see that you’re all very passionate about this matter,” Organization XIII’s Number VII states, looking over each member of the trio in turn. “That’s very good indeed. Take that passion, the anger and rage. Direct it against the Heartless.”

A snap of the man’s fingers summons a line of Armored Knights. “Only the Keyblade can release the hearts these creatures mindlessly horde. Those hearts float together, masterless and free. Until they can be weaved together. Until they form Kingdom Hearts.”

“Kingdom Hearts?” Sora asks, thinking back to the realm beyond the Door to Darkness. “What are you…?”

“We are nothing,” Saïx states. “Until we have Kingdom Hearts. Only with its power can we truly exist.”

“You’re crazy!” Azlyn declares, snarling at the Nobody.

“For once,” a familiar imperious voice suddenly interrupts, echoing off the surrounding rock, “I find myself agreeing with you, child.”

A sudden rush of green flames rises up, Maleficent appearing within. She gives a brief over-the-shoulder sneer to Azlyn, then turns her full attention to Saïx.

“You speak of things you have no hope of understanding, imbecile!” the witch announces haughtily. “Kingdom Hearts will belong to me! The heart of all kingdoms, of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be _my_ dominion!”

Sora opens his mouth to discourage the witch from summoning more Heartless, but his warning is lost in sound of a wave of green flame sweeping towards Saïx. The Nobody watches it come impassively, and at the last second before the wave hits, a Berserker appears in front of its master. The flames crash harmlessly against its chest, dissipating into emerald flickers.

“You should have remained in the Darkness beyond, witch,” Saïx says, gesturing his minion onwards.

Maleficent shoots out another torrent of fire, and though it doesn’t eliminate the large Nobody, it does send it staggering back. In a few moments, more of its kind join the battle.

“Hearty foes, to be sure,” the jade-skinned woman mutters to herself, breathing just a touch heavier than usual.

Sora rises, shakes off his fatigue and rushes to Maleficent’s side. Telary and Azlyn follow suit. Maleficent gives the trio a quick look, a small smile decorating her face.

“You would enter an alliance with this witch?” Saïx asks, actually looking stunned.

“Seems like she’s just as motivated to stop you as we are,” Telary says with a slight shrug. “For evil reasons, sure, but…”

“We can always kill her again later!” Azlyn finishes cheerily.

Maleficent actually throws her head back and laughs. She raises her hands and more green flames sweep up around her. The heroic trio quickly stumble back, just as the flames coalesce into a solid wall between them and Maleficent.

“The day we fight side-by-side is not yet at hand, children, and hopefully I shall never find myself so desperate,” she mockingly declares. “I will keep these creatures at bay. It is on you to devise a way to vanquish them, forever!”

Sora opens and closes his mouth, completely at a loss for words. He has experienced many strange things since he began to travel the worlds, but Maleficent holding the line to buy him time… Never had such a thing crossed his mind. Even now it seems hard to believe.

“Maleficent…” Telary tries, though he sounds just as tongue-tied as Sora feels.

“Do not misunderstand my intentions here, fools!” the witch cuts him off, hooking her right hand into a fierce claw and tugging at the air in front of her. A geyser of flame shoots up from beneath a Berserker, roasting it in emerald flames. “I will have my revenge yet, make no mistake! Now, go.”

Sora opens his mouth to protests, but before he can even make a sound he notices that his feet are sinking. The boy looks down to find himself and his companion sinking into a murky portal of inky Darkness that has to be Maleficent’s doing.

The Keybearer looks back up just in time to see a swarm of Dusks descend on his longtime foe. The last thing he sees is a dogpile of stretchy silver-white bodies, obscured by a curtain of green.

Then he finishes sinking, and sees only Darkness.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Lousy witch!”

Sora raises his head at Azlyn’s venomous declaration, slowly taking in his surroundings. The trio stand on a small grey platform in a black abyss, with a single thin path of similar terrain wandering off in both directions. Odd black protuberances shoot up on either side of the road, glowing a faint purple to provide the barest illumination. Despite its strange makeup, the place looks familiar. Scarily so.

“This is the Realm of Darkness,” Telary says, absolute certainty in his otherwise shaky voice. “I mean, it’s gotta be, right?”

“Well where else would a ‘dark portal’ go?” Azlyn points out, hands on hips. “Even when she tries to help us out, Maleficent ends up screwing us.”

“Seems that way,” Telary agrees with a sigh. “What do you think, Sora?”

The wizard turns to see the Keybearer sitting on the stone floor, resting his chin on his hands. He looks sullen.

“Do you think it’s true?” he asks, barely loud enough to be heard. The boy’s head whips up to look at his older friend. “Does slaying Heartless really help Organization XIII? Have I just been playing into their hands this whole time?”

“Of course not!” Azlyn immediately answers, shaking her head. “That creep was just trying to mess with you! He _did_ kidnap Kairi, if you’ll remember.”

“I don’t know,” Telary speaks up, taking a seat beside Sora. “I mean, that’s twice now that Saïx has told us point blank to fight Heartless. Not to mention that I’ve always wondered what happened to those released hearts.”

“So that’s it then?” Sora says, an unmistakable edge in his voice. “I can’t use the Keyblade anymore?”

Telary sighs, putting an affirming hand on his young friend’s shoulder. “Look, Sora, the truth is that that isn’t even an option. Remember that Heartless tried to get to the Keyhole in the bug world. As long as they show up, we have to try and stop them. _You_ do.”

“You’re right,” Sora admits.

“And if you’re really _that_ worried,” Azlyn chimes in, standing over the boys with a confident grin, “you can always leave ‘em to me to finish off!”

The Keybearer looks up at his friend and laughs. “I knew you’d be happy about this!”

The knight shrugs. “What can I say, I…”

Azlyn turns quick as a whip, shield drawn in a flicker of movement Sora barely registers. The boys follow her gaze, but find nothing but the empty darkness waiting for them.

“What was that all about, Az?” Sora asks, rising to his feet.

“I thought I heard something,” the knight mutters, still looking around cautiously. “In fact, I’m almost _sure_ that I…”

“I believe you, Azlyn,” Telary says suddenly, moving to the center of the rocky platform. A small white box sits on the ground there, and he cautiously picks it up. The others gather around him, and he cautiously opens it.

Cold air rushes out of the small container. The reason for the chill is obvious: a small blue bar of ice cream on a thin stick sits rests inside. Behind it the trio can make out some of a photograph.

Azlyn draws out the ice cream, and Sora grabs the photo. The snapshot is of a place he recognizes, the front gate of the mansion he and his companions had awoken in in Twilight Town. The gate is closed, and four figures, familiar teenagers, pose in front of it.

“Hayner, Pence, and Olette?” the Keybearer mutters. His eyes slowly turn up to the forth figure, a blonde boy dressed in black, white, and grey. Sora stares at him, an odd sense of familiarity creeping up on him.

“That’s weird,” Telary says, unnecessarily. “Okay, I mean, of course it is in general but… Who’s that fourth guy?”

“Not sure,” Sora lies, staring into the mystery boy’s piercing blue eyes.

“Mmmm!” Azlyn’s pleasured noise jolts Sora out of his thoughts, and he turns to see the knight licking the ice cream bar.

“Azlyn!” Telary admonishes the girl.

“Hey, don’t knock it ‘til you try it!” the knight declares, giving it another lick. “This is freaking good! I mean, it’s like salty, but sweet at the same time. I could eat a million of these! Makes me feel like a kid again.”

Telary groans in exasperation. “I don’t care how good it tastes, Azlyn. It really isn’t a good idea to just start licking things you find in the Realm of Darkness!”

She rolls her eyes, holding out the bar to her boyfriend. He sucks in a nervous breath and steps away from it, prompting further eye rolling. “Just give it a try, okay. It won’t kill you. I’ll be your best friend!”

“Azlyn…”

“Just one, Tel. Please? For me, your girlfriend?” A devious look crosses the girl’s face. “Besides, you owe me a lick anyway. If you catch my…”

“Ew!” Sora shouts, shaking his head and trying to erase the knight’s words from his mind. “Just try it Telary, please. If nothing else, it’ll get her to shut up.”

Telary sighs, mentally conceding that that’s reason enough. He gingerly takes the bar from his girlfriend, staring at it cautiously for a moment.

“C’mon!” Azlyn urges, pushing at his hand.

Telary takes a deep breath, raises the bar to his lips, and lets it out. He gingerly sticks his tongue out, just barely grazing the frozen treat. His eyes light up immediately, looking down at the bar appreciatively.

“Y’know,” he admits, nodding once, “that’s actually not half… _Blegh_! _”_

Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, the mage bends over and pukes.

Sora and Azlyn make grossed out noises and quickly turn away, grimacing even at the sound.

“Huh,” Azlyn finally says after a long moment of silence. “I guess maybe you had a point about being careful with Realm of Darkness food.”

“Seriously, are you okay Tel?” Sora asks his older friend, rubbing a hand lightly against his back. The ice cream bar lies discarded on the ground.

“Yeah, I think so,” the wizard says, still obviously a bit disoriented. “I don’t know what happened. One second I was thinking about how good it tasted, the next I was throwing it back out. Like some kind of involuntary reaction.”

“As long as you’re sure,” Sora says, patting Telary once more.

“Now the real question,” Azlyn interjects, scratching thoughtfully at her chin, “is how that box ended up here. Somebody put it there.”

“Riku,” Sora states definitively. “It had to be Riku.”

“What makes you say that?” Telary asks.

The Keybearer shrugs. “Just a hunch. Besides, who else do we know that hangs around in the Realm of Darkness and would want to help us?”

Telary nods. “That makes sense, I guess.”

“Now what?” Azlyn asks, looking around. “How are we supposed to get out of here? Unless one of you has been holding out on us with the dark powers.”

And just like that, as if summoned by the knight’s words, an Organization standard portal opens up at the edge of the peninsula. Sora and Telary look at it, then back to Azlyn.

She has a thoughtful look on her face, slowly turning her gaze down to examine her palm. “Huh, maybe _I’ve_ been holding out on us.”

“Well if you are,” Telary says, leading the way to the portal, “you make sure to practice those dark fireballs _far_ away from me!”

The Disney Castle pair lead the way, Sora trailing behind. He takes another look at the photograph from the box, eyes locked on the blonde-haired kid.

“Roxas,” he says after a moment, surprising even himself. He stops short as he speaks, struck by a sudden urge to turn around. He just barely moves his head, sparing a single glance over his shoulder.

Something moves, and the Keybearer fully turns around. Just in time to see a man in black, fading quickly into a portal of his own.


	37. Aftermath

“He knows now,” Saïx says coolly, leaning back in his raised white chair. He steeples his fingers before his face, looking almost thoughtful. “Sora knows that every Heartless he destroys serves our purpose. That could make him harder to control. His anger may not be enough.”

“Even if it isn’t,” Number II interjects in that lackadaisical voice of his, “his heroism will be. That kid can’t help himself but to save people from the Heartless. Too much of his pure little heart’s in it.”

Number X nods once, idly rearranging a hand of cards. “Not much of a gamble then, is it? And here I’d thought this might be fun.”

“Fun?” Xaldin says, raising a single bushy eyebrow. “Fun is _not_ the objective, even if we had feelings enough to identify the sensation. Demyx was rather dedicated to finding _fun_ in his missions, and the Keybearer destroyed him. Would you like to share that fate?”

X shrugs. He plucks a single card from his hand and examines it, then gingerly places it three cards down. “Well, what’s the point in betting on something if you already know the outcome?”

“Speaking of points,” II interjects, “ _mine_ was that all we have to do to make Sora dance our way is present him with a suitable villain. Namely, us.”

“He truly hates us now,” Saïx says, almost smiling. “I’ve seen it firsthand. That is how we will control him.”

Xaldin clears his throat pointedly. “Which leads us to the topic I wish to discuss. We have all witnessed the Keybearer’s power and skill. It is not inconceivable that he could manage to threaten us directly. What then?”

“You wish to know whether or not you can kill him,” Xemnas states, speaking up for the first time in the meeting.

“Yes.”

The Superior appears to think about it for a moment, then shrugs minutely. “If he is to die so easily, then he is of no use to me.”

“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear,” Xaldin says with a single nod, more for his own benefit than the others. “You know it isn’t in my nature to hold back.”

“And Maleficent?” Number II asks. “She proved herself no match for us, but she still retains some small control over the Heartless.”

“The witch is irrelevant,” Saïx answers. “Her forces were too depleted by the attack on Hollow Bastion, just as we believed they would be. She barely defeated a phalanx of my lessers with her most powerful magic. She is nothing.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Unacceptable!” Maleficent roars, green fire blazing all around her. At this point she hardly even cares about the property damage; this tower has proven a useless stronghold anyway. “To think that I have stooped so low as to _assist_ that Keyblade wielding child and his lackeys! A disgrace!”

“Aw, c’mon now Maleficent,” Pete attempts (stupidly) to cheer his mistress up. “At least we got outta that mess in one piece.”

The witch responds to her minion’s statement with only a withering glare, strong enough to raise his cowering instincts. “I’d almost rather they’d killed me. At least that I could have accomplished with some of my dignity intact.”

Pete chuckles a little. “Oh, all that _dignity_ stuff is overrated anyway, believe me. All that really matters is escaping to fight again.”

“Fight with what, you oaf?” Maleficent asks with deceptive calmness. A single raise of her eyebrow is the only outward indication of displeasure. “The bulk of our forces were invested in this siege, and it failed. They were decimated!”

“Well, I could always go back out and…”

“No,” Maleficent states flatly. “Every time I send you to another world, you manage to lose far more than we gain.”

“So what?” Pete asks, puzzled at his mistress’s unusually defeatist attitude. “We’re just gonna give up? Let them Organization goons get their hands on Kingdom Hearts?”

The jade-skinned witch gives him a glare, but it’s halfhearted at best. “Of course not, imbecile. We merely need to bide our time. It seems obvious that Sora and this Organization are adversaries. Though I am loathe to admit it, he should prove adequate enough to sufficiently thin their ranks and locate their fortress. Then, once their strength is reduced…”

“We swoop in and snatch that there Kingdom Hearts right outta their hands!” Pete finishes, leaping up out of his seat giddily.

“Quite right,” Maleficent affirms. Flicking her hand, she opens a dark portal. “Now, come let us away. I would not imagine it too long before the residents of the town arrive here. They will assuredly not be happy.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Deep in the pristine white bowels of the Organization’s stronghold, Kairi sits in a cell. It’s a surprisingly spacious cube, with pale purple walls and an arched ceiling. Her only view of the outside world is a barred door.

The cruelest thing about the whole situation is that she knows she could easily slip through the bars. They’re inexplicably spaced nearly a foot apart, presenting a tempting target.

No, the real hindrance to any escape attempt is the fact that beneath those bars is a long drop down. A long path juts out from the opposite wall of the chamber, ending almost twenty feet from her cell. A jump would be suicidal, and so Kairi waits. Again.

The girl huffs once, frustrated, and stands. Her feet move almost of their own accord, and before she knows it she’s pacing back and forth.

At least the first time, she’d had an excuse. It wasn’t like there’d been a lot she could have done as a limp, heartless body. But now here she was again, trapped in a villain’s lair awaiting help. It’s the kind of thing that could really give a girl a complex.

If only she could get that weird Light burst thing to work again. But no matter how hard she tries, how much she concentrates, it just isn’t coming.

Sighing once more, she slides back to the floor to think some more.

**KH-KH-KH**

DiZ fixes the machine at his feet with a scowl, pulling tightly on his wrench to secure the latest bolt.

Once he’s sure it will hold, the man lets go of his tool and sits back, letting his arm rest. A dull fatigue has set in there, and once again the bandaged man feels inescapably _old_.

He spares a glance at the nearby monitor, but only sees the same thing he had before. Repair work has already begun on Hollow Bastion, the citizens out in full force. Some of them work because they’re assured their family and friends made it through safely. Others knew those who died, and work through their pain.

The man known as Leon stands in the middle of it all, supervising and pitching in where he can. He’s a natural leader, easily mingling with those under his charge.

 _Unlike the last “leader” of Radiant Garden_ , DiZ thinks bitterly, shaking his head and resuming work on the machine. It’s been difficult work, from the design process on up to actually building the thing. But if it’s been done correctly, the machine may just save the worlds.

“If only,” DiZ speaks aloud, to himself and the thin, lonely air, “it could save _me_.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Naminé takes a deep breath, letting the air rush in and out of her lungs with absolute serenity. She feels the weight of the pencil in her hand, just begging to be lifted up and out to paper.

She takes another quick peek at her subject, a brightly colored bird sitting on a rock not far away. Then another deep breath, in and out, and she lifts the pencil. In and out. In and…

Her hand falls once more, resting against the log she’s sitting on. The bird musts sense the sudden movement, and it squawks once before flying away.

The blonde girl shakes her head, frustration settling in. Her breathing loses its calm pattern, resuming its normally shaky, ragged journey in and out.

It’s been like this for weeks now, ever since the man calling himself Ansem had let her go. She’d run, desperately seeking a refuge away from the madness that had been her life before.

After a day of travel, stopping over through nearly a dozen world, she’d found herself in this jungle. A serene, calm place, devoid of human presences as near as she can tell. There is the occasional odd, boisterous yell, but she figures that’s just some animal she’s not familiar with.

Within minutes she’d seen a subject worth drawing, a tiny yellow lizard scuttling by on six legs. She’d drawn out her sketchbook, grabbed her pencil and…

Nothing.

Whatever inspiration she’d had before, the drive to immortalize her thoughts and visions, has somehow dried up. Now every time she raise her pencil, she can only seem to put it back down again.

**KH-KH-KH**

Riku leans back against a rock, closing his eyes to clear his thoughts. Not that the darkness behind his lids is much different than the darkness of his current realm.

He almost couldn’t believe it, seeing Sora in the flesh again like that. The urge to say something, to call out and let his oldest, best friend know that he was there, so close…

And then he remembers, why he couldn’t. Why he can’t now, perhaps never again.

Tears prick at his eyes, then spill over tired lids and down a face that is not his own.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora opens his eyes and gazes down the length of his soft bed, safe in his cabin on the Gummi ship. The portal from the Realm of Darkness had deposited him and his friends directly on the ship’s bridge, naturally scaring the living daylights out of Jiminy Cricket.

He’d left the explanations to the others, too tired to bring the chronicler up to speed. He’d come down here and immediately collapsed.

But he’s awake now, and immediately he is haunted by a barrage of thoughts, none of them comforting. He’s still no closer to finding Riku, Kairi is in the Organization’s clutches, and even his efforts to help the worlds have only put them in danger.

In an odd way, he wishes for the simplicity of his last journey. Sure things had gotten dark, he’d faced numerous dangers again and again, but at least he knew what the right thing to do was. Now, he has no idea.

The door creaks open and he looks up to see Telary poking his head in. He nods once, permitting the wizard entrance. Azlyn comes in after him, one hand wrapped around his wrist.

“Hey,” Telary begins, fixing Sora with a weak smile. He stops beside the bed, looking down on the younger boy. “Are you doing okay? We were worried.”

“Telary was worried,” Azlyn quickly interjects, faking disinterest. “I just came here because he was.”

“Sure thing.” The Keybearer sits up, giving his friends a reassuring smirk. “I’m doing okay. I took a little nap, so I’m not so tired anymore.”

“That’s good,” Telary says with a nod, and he looks so uncomfortable that Sora just rolls his eyes and gestures for the older man to sit on the bed.

Azlyn doesn’t hesitate, hopping over Sora’s body to lay on his right side. Telary joins on his left, his smile becoming a little more genuine.

“Crazy day, huh?” Sora says, just to say something. The others nod, mumble a little bit. “Crazy day.”

“Took down an Organization member,” Azlyn adds, reawakening the unpleasant memory in Sora. Looking over at Telary, the Keybearer can see that he seems even more perturbed by the mention of Demyx’s fate.

“Sure did,” Tel sighs, laying back to hide his slight shiver. After a long moment he sighs and lays an arm over his eyes. “It was awful.”

Sora nods and gives a tiny grunt of agreement. In a way, he’s relieved that Telary seems so broken up about it. He never thought he’d see the day he was afraid of the wizard, but that day had come with a vengeance.

“What are you talking about?” Azlyn asks, nearly scoffing. “One less Nobody can only be a good thing, far as I’m concerned.”

“You don’t understand, Az,” Telary says sharply, sitting up. “It wasn’t like casting a fire spell on some Heartless that looks vaguely humanoid. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn he was a regular person. What I did was…”

“What you did was for the good of everyone in Hollow Bastion,” the knight cuts him off, a steely knife-edge to her voice. “Because of what that lowlife did, people _died_. Probably a lot of people. He was keeping the defense grid down, he was preventing them from getting help. He deserved it.”

“But I lost control Azlyn,” Telary counters, a hitch of sadness in his voice. Grief, almost. “I wasn’t thinking about those people in town, or justice, or any of that. I only cared what he did to you, and what that did to me.” Tears slowly make their way down his face.

Azlyn climbs over Sora and wraps Telary up in her arms, letting him lay his head on her chest. She mutters soft words to him, so low that Sora can’t hear even though he’s only a foot away.

After a long minute Telary sits back up, and Azlyn lets him go. The wizard wipes his eyes, the tears gone.

“This is what they want,” Azlyn says, her voice hardening again. “They think that if they go around _acting_ human, then that’s how we’ll think of them. Well, from now on I’m not letting myself be fooled by their act. If you two wanna play with kid gloves, go ahead. But _I_ won’t be. Guarantee it.”

Sora says nothing, not sure _what_ to say exactly. There’s no doubt in his mind that the Nobodies of Organization XIII are a threat, monsters whether they look the part or not. But still something in him hesitates to agree with Azlyn, to let himself dehumanize them completely.

Despite Azlyn’s words hanging ominously in the air, the trio lay back down. For several long minutes there’s only silence.

“Heck of a day,” Sora finally says, letting out another sigh. He examines his bare arm, mentally imposing the wounds he’d had earlier back on the skin. “I can’t remember the last time I saw so much blood. All of it mine, of course.”

“I can remember,” Telary speaks up, drawing the others’ attentions. “I’m sure you do too Azlyn.”

“Really?” Azlyn asks, propping herself up on an elbow. “When?”

Telary grins at her. “You know. The time Goofy took us fishing with Master Donald?”

The knight smiles and lets out a short snort. “Oh, yeah. Right?”

“What?” Sora asks, sitting up and laying his hands behind his head. “What happened?”

Telary’s grin gets even larger, and he sits up fully in complete storyteller mode. “Well, it was a nice day out, school wasn’t in session. So, Captain Goofy gets this idea in his head that we all go fishing. The king was busy, so it was just the four of us and, heh, if you think you can’t understand Master Donald normally, then just imagine how he sounds with a fish hook stuck in his beak…”

Sora laughs, letting the story wash over him along with his friends’ presence. So things are bad, that’s undeniable. The situation is dark, ambiguous, and promising nothing but more danger.

But in spite of all of that, Sora can’t help but smile. All of this fear and confusion and Darkness, in the end it’s all going to be worth it.

Someday, and soon, all his friends, new and old, will be together again.


	38. A Cloaked Mystery

“Nice going, Telary,” Azlyn mutters, looking around with a scowl.

The light of the teleporter fades out from Sora’s eyes, and he can suddenly see what his friend is talking about. The trio have returned to the Land of Dragons, seeking its Keyhole to seal against an incursion by the Heartless. Telary had been in charge of the teleporter’s coordinates, and for some reason chose to land them smack in the middle of the village devastated by the Huns.

Burnt out husks that once were houses, shops, and ancestral shrines surround the heroes. It’s a grim reminder of the cruelty of Shan-Yu, and the monstrous things Heartless are capable of.

“Yeah, sorry,” the wizard apologizes sheepishly, looking around with a nervous frown. “It’s just that, well, this mountain seemed like the kind of place a Keyhole might be. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.”

Azlyn says something back to her counterpart, but Sora hardly hears it. He’s too caught up in the devastation around him, recalling the small doll that Mulan had found before in the wreckage.

In a way, it’s a grim reminder of what could have happened to Hollow Bastion had he and his companions not been able to stop the siege. Thinking about it like that, he can almost see Azlyn’s point about the Organization member Demyx.

His thoughts are interrupted by the sudden sound of crunching snow. For a moment he merely dismisses it as belonging to Azlyn or Telary, but he can still hear them discussing something. In the _opposite_ direction of where the sound came from.

He spins on his heel just in time to see a tall man in an Organization XIII cloak, standing at the village’s eastern gate. His hood is up to conceal the face within, but somehow Sora can tell that they are locking eyes. The stare holds for a brief moment, and then the man turns and runs.

“Hey!” Sora calls out, rushing forward after the villain. He isn’t very careful about it however, and strikes his ankle on a piece of wreckage. He falls, landing facefirst in the thankfully soft snow.

“Sora!” Telary’s voice calls out concernedly from somewhere above him.

Sora gets up on all fours, shaking the wet snow out of his face and hair. Two hands reach down to help him the rest of the way up. He turns to see his companions looking at him, Telary with concern and Azlyn like he’s a complete weirdo.

“What was that all about, Sora?” Telary asks.

“An Organization member,” Sora answers, throwing a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the mysterious man. “He took one look at me and ran away!”

“What would an Organization member be doing running around out here?” Azlyn asks. “Do you think it’s about the Keyhole too?”

Sora shrugs. “Dunno. But whatever it is, it can’t be a good thing, right?”

Telary nods. “Yeah, it’ll be best if we…”

“Hold it right there!” an unfamiliar voice calls out from behind the trio. They turn to see two men in soldier’s armor, grey bandanas around their shoulders. Both of the men hold spears.

“See!” the other soldier exclaims, looking rather smug. “I told you I saw something!”

“Um, hello there!” Sora says, pushing past his friends to approach the soldiers. He grins at them, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. “We were just…”

“This area is off limits to civilians,” the head soldier declares, fixing them with an angry glare.

“Is it? Well then, uh, we were just…”

“Wait a minute Hui,” the second soldier interrupts, stepping up beside his cohort. “Look at what they’re wearing. All black, just like the rumors said!”

Hui looks the trio over again, thoughtfully. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. It’s worth checking out at least.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Telary whispers to the others, a nervous edge in his voice.

“You three are to come with us!” Hui declares, stepping up to the trio with his spear held out. His companion follows along beside him.

“Come where exactly?” Sora asks, thinking of how far the Organization member could have gotten by now.

“We’ll be taking you to see our… _commander_ ,” Hui answers, and the way he says commander makes it obvious there’s some sort of animosity there. “Come quietly, and you won’t be hurt.”

“ _We_ won’t be hurt?” Azlyn asks sardonically, stepping up and cracking her knuckles.

“Azlyn, wait,” Telary says, laying a hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder to keep her back. “You know we don’t fight with law enforcement.” After a moment of consideration, he adds an addendum. “Who haven’t yet proven themselves corrupt. Besides, maybe we can convince this commander to help us.”

And so they surrender, though neither Sora nor Azlyn are very happy about it. Hui and his partner, Shen, lead the group out of the ruined village and towards a cluster of military tents. Three other men huddle around a small fire in the middle of the basecamp, and all of them fix the new arrivals with varying degrees of dirty looks.

Hui and Shen lead them to a large tent, yet another soldier standing guard outside.

“I found these three lurking around in the village,” Hui gruffly tells the guard. “Is she in?”

Sora frowns at the mention of the female pronoun. He’d thought women weren’t allowed in the army.

The guard nods, though there’s an odd look in his eye. “Oh, she’s in there. And just as talkative as ever.”

Hui rolls his eyes. “This is just great, isn’t it? Not only are we supposed to take orders from a woman, she just had to be crazy as well.”

The soldiers share a little conspiratorial chuckle, then the guard pulls aside the tent flap just a smidge.

“Commander, we have some suspicious characters here,” he calls inside. He waits for a moment, apparently getting a response. After a moment he turns back to Hui. “Bring them in.”

The trio get shuffled forward once again, Hui and Shen right behind them. The tent is just as small inside as it seemed outside, with only room for a thin bed and a single table, plus about ten square feet of free floor space. Standing in the middle of it is Mulan, dressed in almost the same robe and pants she’d worn before.

Her mouth is open to say something, but it quickly snaps closed as she sees who it is that has been brought into her tent.

“Mulan?” Sora blurts out.

Hui eyes the trio suspiciously, then gives Mulan a similar glance. “You know these people, commander?”

Mulan's mouth opens again, about to say something, when Azlyn interrupts. “No, but we sure know her! After all of her incredible deeds, what criminal doesn’t know, and _fear_ , the great Fa Mulan!”

Her companions give her puzzled looks, but she just gives them her “play along” face in response. They decide to.

“So, uh, what should we do with these guys?” Shen asks.

Mulan's face is blank for a moment, but then her mind and mouth apparently catch up with the current situation. “Yes, leave them to me. I should, uh, y’know… interrogate them!”

Hui gives her a dirty look, but only for the barest fraction of a second. He then nods his head and makes his way to the tent exit along with Shen. But not before he throws another suspicious glance at the entire group.

When the tent’s flap closes, the atmosphere changes. Mulan actually lets out a sigh of relief, sinking onto the bed. As she does, the familiar form of Mushu skitters out from underneath her pillow. The little dragon’s eyes are lit up at the sight of his old friends.

“Well, long time no see you three!” he exclaims companionably, smiling up at them.

“Yeah, it has been,” Sora agrees with a grin of his own. He looks to Mulan and says, “I guess things have changed for you, huh?”

The young woman laughs lightly, nodding. “Yes, they definitely have.”

“So, a commander now, huh?” Sora continues happily. “I thought you wanted to go back home to your family.”

Mulan nods. “I did, at first. But after a while, I don’t know, I just thought a lot about all the good I could do in the Emperor’s service. So I went back to the Emperor, and he gave me this little squad.”

“Yeah, and those guys seem real happy about it, too,” Azlyn quips, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Aw, they’re just mad to be takin’ orders from a girl,” Mushu says dismissively. “That’s why I came along.” The tiny dragon lets out a small lick of flame. “Any of those macho pigs get any ideas, and it’s a one-way ticket to a bedwarming they will _not_ appreciate.”

“And because the ancestors don’t like having you around, bragging about your ‘big victory’,” Mulan adds with a playful grin at her guardian.

“Look, Mulan,” Sora anxiously interrupts, “it’s great to see you again, and I’m glad things are going well for you, but we’re kind of in a hurry here. Y’see, we saw this guy in black…”

Mulan stands up, eyes wide. “You actually saw him? The man in black?”

“Uh, yeah,” Sora answers, puzzled. “He was in the village, but then he got away.”

“Really,” Mulan says. “That’s actually why I’m out here too. You see, there were rumors in the city about a spy in black, sneaking around the mountains. When I heard them, I remembered what you told me about that Organization XIII, and asked the emperor to let me investigate.”

“Well, I definitely saw him,” Sora confirms. “He was headed to the summit, I think. He might be gone by now already, but if he isn’t…”

“It’s yet another opportunity for glory!” Mushu exclaims, leaping up joyfully. Everyone glares at him. “Uh, I mean, an opportunity to serve the emperor, and our great nation.”

“Alright!” Mulan declares, reaching for her suit of armor. “Just give me a second, and you can…”

“Now wait just a minute,” Azlyn interrupts, drawing all attention to her. “You say these guys don’t respect you, huh? Well, I was actually just thinking about a little way we can go about starting to remedy that…”

**KH-KH-KH**

Hui paces impatiently outside the commander’s tent, lost in thought. It’s been several minutes since he left the suspicious trio alone inside with Mulan, and he can’t even eavesdrop because of the heavy material of the tent.

For all he knows, they could be in there swapping makeup tips instead of getting a good, hard interrogating. Who knows what’s to be expected of a _woman_ commander?

Just as he finishes one pass and turns for another, the commander’s tent’s flaps fly open, and the red-haired prisoner dives out, only his upper body making it through the gap.

All the soldiers turn to the fallen man, looking frightened.

“Help, please!” the redhead pleads, looking up at the soldiers. “You can’t let us be treated this way, she’s absolutely ruthless” He gasps and turns to look inside the tent, sheer terror written across his face. “Oh, no!” That’s the last exclamation he gets out before suddenly being pulled into the tent.

Hui reacts first, rushing to the tent’s entrance and flinging open the flaps. He quickly takes in the scene inside: Mulan has her fists wrapped up in the terrified redhead’s shirt, a scowl fixed on her face. The other two prisoners huddle in the corner, holding each other tight, apparently for comfort.

“Okay, okay, I’ll talk!” the prisoner pleads, facing away from the commander with his face tightly pinched, as if expecting a blow. “In fact, I can lead you to him. Our leader, the spy. In black. The spy in black that all the rumors are about. That spy!”

“That’s what I thought!” Mulan practically growls, her voice deep and gruff. After a moment of consideration she barks out an additional, “Scumbag!”

“Uh, ma’am?” Hui inquires, flinching slightly as Mulan turns to face him with that still enraged look in her eyes.

“Ah, Hui. I was just about to send for you!” She drops the redhead to the tent’s floor, and he lands hard on his backside. “These three have agreed to take me to their leader, but only if I go alone. I’ll need you to hold down the camp here.”

“Uh, yes, of course commander,” Hui stammers in reply, nervously giving her a quick bow. “Whatever you say, commander.”

He turns away and lets he flaps fall back, only to find the entire company staring at him. Most of them are still in utter disbelief over what they’d just seen.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Well, I don’t think those guys should have any problem respecting you now, Mulan,” Azlyn declares, accompanied by a quick bark of laughter. “I thought that guy was gonna pee in his armor!”

“Yeah, but I highly doubt it helped dispel the notion that she’s crazy,” Telary mutters, still a little miffed about being chosen as the pretend punching bag. He knows he’s the best of the trio at terrified freak outs, but he doesn’t particularly like getting it thrown in his face like that.

“Yeah, but now she’s the good kinda crazy!” Mushu chimes in, perched on Mulan's armored shoulder. “The kind that makes ya think twice before questioning an order.”

“Anyway, now we can just focus on the mission,” Mulan says. “Now, you’re sure the man in black came this way, Sora?”

“Huh?” The Keybearer, at the head of the group, turns to the others. He’d been lost in thought until Mulan's question had snapped him back to reality. “Oh, yeah I’m sure. The only way to go is up, right?”

The trek continues in relative silence, more companionable and relaxed than awkward. Looking around for the Nobody provides ample opportunity to observe the mountain scenery. Fir trees line the side of their path, each blanketed with a light dusting of snow. All in all it’s very tranquil.

“Okay, I’m bored,” Azlyn admits after half an hour of trekking, the first sound anyone’s made in as long. “Maybe the Nobody just flew the coop. Maybe he even got as bored as I am.”

Sora shakes his head. “I dunno.” He thinks for a moment, then decides to voice his thoughts. “Something about the way he moved, the way he kind of looked at me… I sorta got the feeling that he wanted me to see him.”

“Really?” Telary asks nervously. “Well in that case, this whole thing might be a trap.”

“A trap!” Mushu exclaims, taken aback. “Man, every time you guys show up I get caught up in some freaky sequence of events!”

“Last time we met, you said you weren’t sure what this Organization was after,” Mulan brings up. “Have you found anything out in the meantime that might tell us why one of their members would be up here?”

Sora pauses, considering that for a moment. He looks around as he thinks, realizing that this was the valley where Shan-Yu had attacked with all his forces last time. Thankfully this time around it’s clear of Huns.

“Well, about the only thing we know is that they want Sora to defeat the Heartless,” Azlyn says.

 “You mean those scary things Shan-Yu used to attack the emperor?” Mushu asks, though he’s not looking at the trio. His gaze is instead fixed on the crest of the snow-covered summit hill. “The freaky yellow flying things.”

“Uh, yeah, I think that kind of Heartless was involved,” Telary confirms with a quick nod.

“Well then I believe that trap of his is pretty well sprung!” the guardian cries out, pointing up the hill.

The party follow his scaly finger upwards, where a line of Rapid Thrusters float above the hill’s rim. They watch the group like hungry vultures sensing a quick meal. But only for a moment. Once the pregnant pause breaks, they swarm down like the avalanche that felled the Huns, revealing far greater numbers than their initial lineup had suggested.

“Oh, not again!” Telary whines, drooping disappointedly.

“Is it just me,” Azlyn speaks up, looking up at the oncoming horde thoughtfully, “or is this a lot lamer than when the Huns did it?”

“We can argue visuals later!” Mulan yells, drawing the sword at her side and holding it high. Gritting her teeth, she charges for the Heartless.

Azlyn and Telary follow along behind her, but Sora hesitates. If the Organization’s plan is to gather hearts by destroying Heartless, then rushing into a big pile of the creatures would only be playing into their hands. The indecision stops the Keybearer in his tracks.

Until he somehow hears another distinctive crunch of foot meeting snow, right behind him. The Keyblade appears in a flash and Sora turns to face the man in black he’d seen earlier. Or at least it’s probably the same one. With the hood raised he can’t hardly tell, though the build seems similar.

Sora scowls and crouches into his battle stance, but just as he settles the Organization member points a gloved hand to behind him.

“Oh, c’mon!” Soar yells back. “I can’t believe you think I’d fall for an old trick like that!”

The cloaked man leaps forward, his hand drawn back and some sort of energy gathering there. Sora dives out of the way of the attack, and comes up still facing his opponent. Just in time to see him thrust out his hand and expel a violet-black energy that is all too familiar to the Keybearer.

The energy explodes like a flare, breaking off into a dozen tendrils that eliminate as many Rapid Thrusters. Sora frowns as he watches them dissipate, realizing that there’s definitely something wrong here. An Organization member just tried to warn him about an attack, then proceeded to save his life when the warning was ignored. That certainly doesn’t sound like something a Nobody would do.

There’s hardly any time to dwell on it, as the rest of the Rapid Thruster swarm descends upon him. Ignoring the Organization member for a moment, Sora leaps up and slashes at the Heartless, eliminating three or four of them with each swing. Two come at him in a concerted attack, and he rolls aside to avoid it. When he gains his feet again, he sees the creatures explode as another orb of dark energy crashes into them.

Sora turns to face the Organization member, watching as he, with no weapon in his hand, uses dark energy attacks like Telary does fireballs. What opponents he can’t hit with the energy, he knocks back and even in some cases crushes with expert punches and kicks.

More Rapid Thrusters throw the boy off for a moment. He ducks and dodges, slashing and stabbing what of the monsters he can reach with the Keyblade. He does his best to keep an eye on the cloaked man’s progress out of the corner of his eye, watching as the mystery figure plows through Heartless with an ease that rivals his own.

Sora finds himself moving steadily closer to the stranger as he fight the swarm. It isn’t long before he’s in swiping range, tantalizingly close. Sora debates such an act as he battles Rapid Thrusters. On the one hand, it couldn’t hurt to take out a member of Organization XIII. On the other, though, the man is clearly not intent on hurting Sora.

He has less time to internally debate than he’d thought, as the horde of Rapid Thrusters begin to thin out to a mere nuisance. Sora cuts through three and knocks back an additional pair when suddenly he hears a familiar whistle through the air. He turns to see Azlyn’s shield, flying like a discus straight at the mysterious cloaked man.

The stranger turns to see the shield coming at him as well, and raises his right hand. Dark energy gathers there, but instead of forming a sphere it rises in a column, like the Light that draws forth Sora’s Keyblade. The energy coalesces into a red and purple sword with a slightly glowing blue eye at the hilt.

The stranger twists his wrist, easily deflecting the spinning projectile. He lowers his arm and dismisses the sword, then notices that Sora is staring at him. The hooded head twitches once in a nod, his fingers flick once as if to say “what can ya do?”, and then he’s off, rushing back down the mountain and out of sight.

Sora watches him go, still stunned. The Heartless are gone now, and the mountain is silent except for the approaching sounds of his friends’ boots in the snow. Sora can barely hear that anyway, his mind too preoccupied by a single fact: he’s seen that sword before.

“Riku?” the young man says in the barest whisper of a breath.

“Sora!” Azlyn calls out to the suspiciously spacey boy. He doesn’t react, so she moves closer. “HEY, SORA!”

That gets him. The Keybearer jolts in surprise, leaping up a good inch off the ground. He turns to see Azlyn standing in front of him with her hands on her hips, somehow looking both quizzical and annoyed.

“What, are ya tired?” she asks in a jesting tone, giving him a playful grin.

“No, no,” Sora answers, almost absently. Certain thoughts are still playing around disturbingly in his mind. He gives Azlyn a questioning look. “Hey, Az, did you notice anything off about that Organization member.”

The knight shakes her head. “Uh, not really. Though I do wonder why you were right beside him and didn’t even _try_ to attack him. Not going soft now, are ya?”

He doesn’t get the chance to answer, as at that moment Telary, Mulan, and Mushu arrive on the scene. Telary looks over Sora worriedly.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “I mean obviously you are, but when I looked I saw you weren’t with us, so…”

“He had other things to deal with, apparently,” Azlyn answers for Sora, who is still acting off. “Not that it mattered much, since he let the Nobody _get away_!”

“Nobody?” Mulan says, puzzled by this new term. “Do you mean the man in black?”

“You let him get away!” Mushu exclaim, shaking his head disdainfully. “C’mon man, you know the more heroics Mulan does, the more my… er, _her_ legend grows!”

“Did he hurt you, Sora?” Telary asks, stepping closer to the boy.

Sora looks over his companions, biting absentmindedly at his lip as he debates revealing his suspicions to them. After a moment, he decides that it’s better they know.

“About the guy in the coat,” he begins, “the thing about him is that, well, I think that he might actually be…”

He doesn’t get to finish his thought, as suddenly the entire mountain shakes. The tremor catches everyone off guard, and they all stagger about in surprise. It lasts for several long seconds, then subsides.

“What was that?” Azlyn blurts, looking around.

Telary lets go of the knight’s arm, which he’d been clutching for support. “Another avalanche?”

“Hey, don’t look at me!” Mushu declares, holding his hands up. “I ain’t even got _access_ to any rockets at the moment!”

“Well, we’d better get off the mountain,” Mulan suggests. “Better safe than buried alive.”

“Sound advice,” Telary agrees, grabbing Azlyn’s hand and leading the way back down.

Sora follows behind the rest of the group, plodding significantly slower than the rest. He’s still plagued with indecision, wondering whether or not he reached the correct conclusion about the man in black. And if he _did_ , then what does that tell him?

The mountain shakes again, succeeding in breaking the Keybearer out of his trance. Quickly regaining his equilibrium, he rushes off after his friends. He’s almost reached them when there’s a _third_ tremor, this one stronger than the preceding two.

“What is going on?” Azlyn calls out in frustration, her voice echoing off the peaks. Mulan quickly slaps a hand over her mouth.

“Azlyn, please don’t shout,” she advises the knight, her voice quiet. “With all of this shaking, it’s a wonder there hasn’t been an avalanche yet. Yelling won’t help.”

“Yeah!” Mushu chimes in, his arms crossed smugly. “So do us all a favor and keep yer big mouth shut.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Azlyn scoffs back at the guardian, getting up in his snout with a glare.

“Guys…” Telary begins to admonish the pair, only to be cut off by a fourth tremor, accompanied by a sound like a geyser gushing into the air.

The group turns to the source of the noise, their mouths dropping open as they look up. A huge beast hovers in the air, its deep blue body long but powerful. Two arms ending in enormous wings flap to keep the creature aloft, with a second set of clawed hands beneath them. Twin red horns jut up from its head, and its back is covered in spikes.

Displayed prominently on its massive chin is a Heartless symbol at least as big as Telary, if not larger. It roars once, which almost shakes the group up as much as any of the tremors, then flies straight up into the clouds above for concealment.

“Th-th-that was… I mean that was…” Telary stammers, trying to say _something_ about the huge monstrosity they’d just witnessed emerge from the mountainside.

“Not the friendliest looking Heartless,” Sora says, grimacing. He thinks for a moment. “It’s gonna go straight for where it thinks it can get the most hearts.”

“The city!” Mulan gasps, her mouth dropping open in shock and despair. “Shang is there, and Yao and Ling and Chien Po and the emperor…”

“Okay, so we gotta get there pronto,” Mushu interrupts. “How are we supposed to outrun that thing?”

“Same way we did Shan-Yu,” Azlyn says, taking the shield off her back and throwing it to the snowy ground. She taps it with her foot and it instantly expands into sled form again.

The others all look at it with varying degrees of apprehension.

“Oh man!” Mushu whines, flopping sadly over Mulan's shoulder. “Last time we rode in that thing I almost lost my lunch. And I don’t even actually _eat_!”

Azlyn just shrugs, hopping on with an adventurous grin. “C’mon Mushu. Are you a dragon, or a chicken?”

**KH-KH-KH**

It’s the emperor’s tea time, a rather sacred tradition at the palace going back generations. It’s the old man’s favorite time of day, but Shang hates it with a passion. He considers it perhaps the most boring part of his job, and that’s saying quite a lot.

He’d thought that, given his role in saving all of China from Shan-Yu and his dark creatures, it would be off on a frontline campaign, leading a legion of the finest men ever assembled for combat. Instead he’d been given a “promotion” to the emperor’s personal bodyguard. It had sounded exciting at first, but had quickly proven itself to be otherwise.

Mostly he stands at the emperor’s side all day, and it’s a wonder he doesn’t just fall asleep every day. And that’s not even the most annoying part of the job. Much of the time, Chi-Fu is there, hovering around the emperor and making snide comments. Many a time has Shang idly wondered why Chi-Fu hasn’t invested in a bodyguard. If there was anyone who’d have enemies crying for his blood…

The last time anything exciting had happened was when Mulan arrived a week ago, finally taking the emperor up on his job offer. Shang had managed to visit with her very briefly, and despite all the awkwardness he always felt around her anymore, it was a rather nice meeting. But then she was off, out doing work that might actually prove interesting. Leaving Shang behind to try and not yawn by the emperor’s side.

All this to say, the captain feels and odd relief when a dark portal opens in the middle of the throne room, and a mysterious hooded man in black steps through. It does wonders for breaking up the monotony, and he also gets to hear Chi-Fu scream like a little girl.

Shang charges the man in black without a second thought, accidentally knocking over the emperor’s antique tea set in the process. He has enough time for a quick thought to hope that it isn’t coming out of his salary, and then he’s on the intruder.

The man dodges Shang’s sword easily, and quickly sweeps in a blow at the captain’s middle. The hit is more than merely physical, and Shang feels a strange sort of cold, greasy energy was over the point of impact. He goes flying, but manages to turn the fall into a roll.

He rises back to his feet and charges again, interposing himself between the intruder and the emperor.

The hooded man raises his hand, violet light gathering in a column. It fades out to reveal a strange sword, the like of which Shang has never seen.

Shang lets his opponent make the first move, concentrating on keeping him away from the emperor as much as he can. He blocks the first blow from the strange sword, then counters with two swings of his own. They’re both deflected, then returned. Shang manages to interpose his sword in the correct block, but the sheer power of this stranger’s blows make his arms shake.

He tries something new, sneakier. Stepping forward he swings his sword downward, anticipating the block. With the enemy’s weapon locked down, the captain unleashes a kick at his leg. The man doesn’t see it coming, stagger back down a few stairs. Obviously unconventional strategy will be the key to this stranger’s defeat.

So Shang goes for an even more controversial move. He hears Chi-Fu behind him, desperately scrambling to get away. He reaches out and grabs the skinny advisor by his collar, flinging him towards the man in black.

The two collide, Chi-Fu making his eardrum shattering squeals again. The hooded man stumbles, grabs the screaming man by his collar, and flings him aside just as Shang did.

Shang leaps down the stairs, sword raised. The man in black should still be off-balance from the Chi-Fu throw, just enough to…

The captain’s calculations prove incorrect. The stranger is just as spry and aware as ever, easily dodging. He snaps out a kick that hits Shang in the back of his knee, one of the few unarmored parts of his body. Shang falls to his knees, thankfully padded by the armor there and the thick carpeting of the throne room, then feels another impact on his back. He gasps out a startled breath, then collapse to the floor, landing right beside Chi-Fu.

His opponent dispatched, the mysterious man dismisses his sword with a second burst of light, and turns to face the emperor.

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora and his compatriots make good time to Imperial City, but it’s still getting dark by the time they arrive. And clouds cover the sky, decreasing what little visibility there is.

The advantage of all this is that the streets are fairly empty, and the path out to the Imperial Palace is clear.

“How’d we manage to beat that Heartless here?” Azlyn asks, looking around the peaceful thoroughfare in skeptical amazement.

Sora shrugs, dodging past a particularly driven old lady carrying several loaded bags. “Hey, even we have to get lucky sometimes.”

The knight snorts once in reply. “Sora, we _never_ get lucky!”

As if to prove her point, suddenly several dark portals open in the middle of the street, depositing Soldiers, Nightwalkers, and Bolt Towers. The townspeople react instantly, all fleeing to safety.

“See what I mean?” Azlyn exclaims smugly.

“Go ahead and go talk to Shang and the emperor, Mulan,” Telary encourages the girl. “We can take care of things here and be right behind you.”

Mulan nods her thanks and sets off down the street. A Nightwalker accosts her as she goes, but she swipes it in half with her sword.

The trio charge the Heartless, each hero taking down one of the creatures with their first swing. Sora and Azlyn plant their feet and swing, taking down another pair, while Telary calls down a thunderbolt on a few more.

A Bolt Tower manages to sneak around behind them, charging an energy attack at the top of its tower. It unleashes the blue energy at Telary, catching him in a field and slowly lifting him off the ground.

Telary gasps in pain, but his companions are too busy with their own problems to even notice. Realizing that he’ll have to handle this himself, the wizard closes his eyes and focuses. He takes a deep breath and runs through the same mental routine that he uses to summon energy, only this time he concentrates and gathers the energy already surrounding him. It concentrates into a glowing orb at the tip of his path, and with a gesture of release he hurls the energy back at the Bolt Tower. It hits and explodes, turning the creature into nothing more than dark dust.

He lands on his knees, and by the time he’s back to his feet he can see that the battle is over. Azlyn comes over to him, frowning.

“You okay?” she asks, checking him over. “You kinda dropped out back there.”

“I’m fine,” he assures her with a smile. “Just had to take care of something.” So close together, the pair can’t resist going in for a kiss.

“Guys, c’mon!” Sora calls, interrupting the moment. Azlyn and Telary jerk their lips away from each other, looking to the impatient Keybearer. “You can be all gross later.”

The trio all join together and make their way to the palace gates, only to find the way blocked by three guards.

“Let us in!” Sora demands. “We’ve got urgent business with the emperor!”

The head guard gives him a skeptical look, then casts it over the other two. “Sorry, kid. Nobody’s allowed to enter the palace, it’s in lockdown. Anybody the guards don’t recognize gets barred from entering, or evicted.”

“Lockdown?” Azlyn repeats, baffled. “What happened exactly?”

The guard debates whether or not to tell them, but ultimately decides it’s no big deal. “Apparently some crazy man in a black coat attacked the emperor.”

“What?” Sora exclaims, shouldering Azlyn aside to look at the guard in puzzlement. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he do that?”

“Oh, so you _do_ know this man in black, eh?” the head guard accuse the Keybearer, moving a hand to the hilt of his sheathed sword.

“Of course we don’t,” Telary protests, pushing Sora aside. “Look, we’re with Fa Mulan, okay? We’re her, uh, unit.”

“She didn’t say anything about you,” the soldier says, still frowning. “Now get out of here before I have you arrested!”

“If we got arrested, would you take us to the emperor?” Sora asks, unwisely.

“ _Go away!_ ”

“Alright, we’re going, we’re going,” Telary relents, grabbing Sora’s arm and pulling the reluctant boy down the stairs with him. They move down to the landing before stopping. “Well, what are we supposed to do now?”

Sora doesn’t answer, looking around in puzzlement. “Uh, Telary. Where’s Azlyn?”

The girl in question crouches behind thick pillar, eavesdropping on the guards posted at the door.

“Lousy kids,” the leader sighs grumpily. “Makes me glad I never had ‘em.”

“At least that was something interesting,” another guard notes. “I mean, we have to stand out here for hours while the emperor sits inside all cozy.”

“Probably this whole attack never even happened,” chimes in the other, shaking his head. “His Excellency probably just wanted some alone time with all those concubines. My pal Han says he pulls stuff like this all the time.”

“Heh, yeah!” the head guard agrees. “Man, what I wouldn’t give to have myself a concubine.”

Having heard enough, Azlyn slips out from behind the pillar and scurries down to her friends, who look relieved to see her.

“Where were you?” Telary asks.

“Seeing if I couldn’t get a little information,” the knight replies. “And I think I have a way we can get in to see the emperor. I, uh, don’t think you’re gonna like it very much though.”

“Why?” Sora asks, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

“Well,” Azlyn explains, “remember how during our first trip here, the magic in these clothes disguised us in soldier’s armor? Well, it’s kinda like that, only in reverse…”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Well, you were right Azlyn,” Sora sighs, looking himself over. “I really do not like this plan.”

The trio walk brazenly through the palace corridors, even occasionally passing by an on-duty guard as they go. No one pays them any mind, or questions who they are or what they’re doing.

After all, who would suspect any danger from three daintily dressed concubines?

“Well, it’s working isn’t it?” Azlyn whispers, hiding her mouth behind a fan. She’s dressed in a yellow dress with billowing sleeves, a dark sash around her waist. Her face is painted ghostly white with blushing cheeks. “With these disguises, we’ll get to the emperor in no time.”

“And all it’s gonna cost us is our dignity,” Telary sighs. His dress is blue, and includes a matching silk coat with black lapels. His face is also painted, though his cheeks are glowing so much on their own that he almost doesn’t need the blush. He curiously glances down his backside. “Does this dress make my butt look big?”

“Naw, it’s just the way the sash has got your waist looking so tiny,” Sora says assuringly, his hands folded into the sleeves of his pink dress. A red sash wraps around his waist and trails behind him. As he walks past a soldier standing guard, he notices the man leering at him. The Keybearer gives his best coquettish smile, then increases his pace. “Man, this is _so_ not how I wanted to meet Riku again.”

“Riku?” Azlyn whispers sharply. She leads the procession into a fairly concealed corner and faces Sora. “Who said anything about Riku?”

“I think Riku is the guy in the black coat,” Sora explains, ignoring the knight’s glare and Telary’s puzzlement. “On the mountain, he never attacked me, only the Heartless. And then when you threw your shield at him, he summoned a sword. The same sword Riku fought with in Hollow Bastion before he got that Keyblade.”

“Okay, sure,” Telary says, nodding slowly as he wraps his head around this new idea.

“But why would Riku be wearing that Organization coat?” Azlyn asks.

Sora shrugs. “Maybe for the same reason the king was. They could both be infiltrating the Organization.” He sighs, tired and frustrated all at once. “Look, I don’t have all the answers, okay? I just…”

The sound of feet beating down the hall at a run interrupts the rest of the Keybearer’s thoughts. The fake-concubines all turn to see a trio of soldiers rushing down the hall, swords out and at the ready.

“Looks like trouble,” Azlyn notes, taking off after them. Telary and Sora follow, though it takes them a moment to get used to running with skirts around their legs.

“Man, how does she do that so well?” Sora asks Telary as they run, forced to take small steps to avoid falling over.

“She was in a few beauty pageants growing up,” the wizard explains. “She was the only Miss Mouseburg Junior Division champ to ever combine evening wear with her physical fitness routine. It’s a good thing too, she can make sure things don’t get out of hand.”

“Relax, Tel,” Sora assures his friend. “Those lame soldiers couldn’t hurt Riku, and there’s no way Riku would do anything permanent to _them_.”

The pair round the corner seconds behind Azlyn, standing at the entrance to a long hallway with a large set of red doors at the end, a golden dragons emblazoned upon them. They’re just in time to see a figure in Organization attire, surrounded by six imperial soldiers, draw out an odd purple gun from thin air. Without hesitation he raises it and fires, a pink crystal with a sharpened slamming through the armor and chest of a man. Straight into his heart.

“Then again,” Sora admits as the soldier falls to the floor, dead, “I could be wrong.”

The soldier’s charge, but there’s a quick flash around the Organization member and he disappears. He reappears in another flash behind a pair of soldiers, drawing a second gun and killing them both.

The other soldiers barely have time to turn before he zaps himself away again, appearing to the left of a trio and taking them all down. As they fall down, the man in black realizes he has an audience.

“So I’m guessing you’re not Riku,” Azlyn deadpans, her fists raised for combat.

“Sorry,” the hooded assailant says in a voice that Sora finds familiar. He tips his head up and the hood falls back, exposing his face. He’s an older man, with a nasty scar going from his cheek to his chin, and an eyepatch over his also-scarred right away. His hair, black with streaks of grey, is tied back in a ponytail. His uninjured eye, blazing gold in color, looks over the trio. “Never heard of him. Name’s Xigbar.”

Sora opens his mouth for another question, but before he can give voice to it Xigbar summons a dark portal, disappearing inside of it. The last they see of him is his smug grin.

“Sorry, Sora,” Telary tells Sora comfortingly. “I guess it wasn’t Riku after all.”

Sora sighs, frowning deeply. “Yeah, that guy wasn’t. But I swear to you guys, it _was_ Riku on the mountain. I’d bet my life on it.”

The door opens at the end of the hall, and Shang steps out, sword in hand. He looks puzzled at seeing what he imagines are three ordinary concubines, then outright gasps as he looks down at the dead soldiers. He looks back up at the trio, horrified.

“Okay, this looks pretty bad,” Telary admits, holding up his hands in surrender. “But I swear, we have a perfectly good explanation for all of it.”

Shang’s horror turns back into confusion. “Wait a minute, I know that voice…”

“Uh, it’s us Captain!” Sora says, stepping forward with a big grin. “Sora, Azlyn, and Telary!”

“Uh…” Shang says. That seems to be all he’s capable of saying in his current mental state.

Mulan emerges from the throne room, her sword also drawn. She gasps at the sight of all the soldiers corpses as well, then looks up at the trio. It only takes a moment for her to see through the disguises.

“Sora?” she states dumbly. “Azlyn? Telary? What are you doing wearing those ridiculous disguises?”

“Well, y’see,” Azlyn begins stepping forward, “there’s a perfectly good explanation for…”

The knight doesn’t get the chance to finish, as suddenly a massive tremor shakes the palace. It throws her off balance, and she trip and falls over a dead soldier.

But the surprises are not over, and before anyone can say anything there’s a sudden _crunch_ , accompanied by the sound of splintering wood and a sudden draft of cool air. They look up to see the massive Heartless, leering down at them. It reaches down a clawed hand into the hall. The hand flails about for a moment, then wraps itself around Sora and Telary.

The pair scream bloody murder as the creature pulls them up through the roof, then takes off into the sky.

Azlyn, Shang, and Mulan can only stare up at the empty air where their friends once were.

“Well, that’s bad,” Mushu states obviously, popping out from Mulan's armor.

“Shang!” Mulan calls to the captain, snapping him out of his daze. ‘Go back and stay with the emperor.”

He does not look happy with that suggestion. “But Mulan, I…”

“Just go, okay?” she repeats, staring the man down until he relents. He gives a quick nod and then heads back into the throne room. Once the door is closed, Mulan makes her way over to Azlyn.

The knight’s concubine disguise is gone, her regular attire once again in place. She does _not_ look happy.

“Damn Heartless took Telary!” she swears, hand clenched tight on her shield’s handle. “Gonna make that thing pay!”

“You’ll have your chance,” Mulan assures the girl, placing a reinforcing hand on her arm. “It sounds like it’s still circling the palace.”

“Could be after the Keyhole,” Azlyn posits. “But that’s not important right how. Saving Telary is.”

“And Sora,” Mushu points out.

“Uh, yeah. Him too.” The knight turns to go, but Mulan stops her.

“I told the emperor about the creature,” the young woman explains quickly. “He said he thinks that someone corrupted a dragon to make it.”

“Dragon, eh?” Azlyn says thoughtfully. “Well, I’m a knight. Slaying dragons is my business. I just hope he wasn’t one of your friends, Mushu.”

The guardian scoffs, crossing his arms indignantly. “Oh, so just ‘cause I’m a dragon, I gotta automatically know _every_ other dragon? Maybe you just think all dragons are related!”

“That’s enough, you two!” Mulan harshly admonishes the bickering pair. “What I was going to say was, the emperor told me about how in ancient times, an evil dragon threatened China. Until it was discovered that by setting off fireworks, they could scare it away.”

Azlyn nods. “Okay, so that means we need fireworks. I seem to recall having a lot of those around this place last time.”

“The tower we usually fire them from was destroyed when Shan-Yu flew into it,” Mulan says. “But there’s another one near the southern wing. Let’s go!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Up in the air above the Imperial Palace, Sora and Telary struggle in the grip of the Storm Rider. It doesn’t do much good, but it’s the principal of the thing.

“Y’know something?” Sora says to Telary, almost conversation despite their environment. “I was just thinking about it, and Shang and Mulan were _way_ closer to the dragon when we were.”

Telary raises an eyebrow at his younger companion. “Yeah, so?”

“Well, I’m just saying that it would have been way more convenient for it to grab them,” Sora continues, frowning all the while. “But nope, it went straight for us!”

“Uh, your point?”

The Keybearer rolls his eyes, sighing heavily. “My point is that I think it just grabbed us ‘cause he saw us wearing dresses. He assumed we were girls!”

“Really?” Telary says thoughtfully. Thinking over it a moment, the conclusion seems reasonable. Or maybe it’s just the thinness of the air so high in the sky. “Well, that’s just terrible.” He tilts his head up at the dragon, still circling aimlessly around the palace. “Hey, you! How are women supposed to advance in society if you keep reinforcing these demeaning stereotypes?”

The beast, naturally, does not reply.

“Well would ya look at that?” Sora declares triumphantly. “Can’t even defend itself!”

“Well, there _is_ no defense for that kind of attitude!” Telary replies, shaking his head. For a moment things are silent, minus the beating of wings. “Boy, is the air thin up here or what?”

A faint whistling noise breaks up the silence that follows, steadily growing louder and accompanied by a red glow. Curious, the boys look down to see a trio of red rockets flying up at them.

The Storm Rider Notices as well, looking down just as the first firework explodes with a loud _boom_. Red sparks fly through the air, momentarily joined by the offshoots of the other rockets. The Heartless roars, old instincts that even a transformation by Darkness cannot suppress rearing their heads.

Its grip on the boys loosens, a fact they immediately take advantage of. They wriggle and writhe, the claw closed around them becoming ever looser as more and more firecrackers explode until finally it pops open, releasing them.

That of course isn’t _entirely_ a good thing, since they both begin to plummet toward the earth. Actually, it’s not so much earth as it is concrete.

They manage to keep calm, grabbing each other’s hands as they fall through the brilliant field of still-exploding fireworks. Telary takes a deep breath, then lets it to center himself.

“Feather Fall!” He cries, the spell surrounding he and his companion with a halo of light. Suddenly their descent is much smoother, though they notice with embarrassment that it also causes their skirts to flare out like parachutes.

They reach solid ground just as the fireworks barrage is giving out. Happy to be alive, the pair embrace.

“Aw,” a familiar voice amusedly states nearby. “It’s so nice to see girls getting along instead of tearing each other down.”

The boys quickly separate, turning to see Mulan Azlyn and Mulan rushing up to them.

“Very funny,” Telary deadpans, returning to his regular attire in a burst of light. Beside him, Sora does the same. “And great idea with firecrackers. I assume Mushu is conducting this little display?”

Mulan giggles. “He seemed so excited about it. How could I say no?”

“Except it looks like he’s almost out of fireworks,” Sora notes. “What are we supposed to do then?”

Everyone turns expectantly to Mulan, who looks back at them with nervous surprise. “Uh, why are all of you looking at me like that?”

“Well, crazy plans are kind of your thing, Mulan,” Sora informs her. “The avalanche, shooting Shan-Yu with the firework, using the fireworks against the Heartless…”

“Wow,” the young woman exclaims, frowning at the responsibility of her position. “That’s a lot of pressure.”

“I know,” Telary concurs. “When you’re not around they usually make _me_ do it.”

“Okay, uh…” Mulan says, wracking her brain for a solution. “So, alright, what else did the emperor tell me about dragons? The fireworks, connected to the land, powerful magic…”

A roar from above cuts the young woman off, and the party looks up to see the Storm Rider diving down through the firework-free sky, headed for the ground. Everyone runs as it approaches the ground, pulling up at the last second a hundred feet away. It hovers only a few feet off the ground, barreling towards them speedily.

Sora suddenly stops, turning back to look at the approaching creature. Bravado welling up in his chest, he takes up a run again, this time heading straight _for_ the massive dragon Heartless.

At the last second before colliding with it the boy goes to his knees, Keyblade at the ready. Storm Rider flies over him, and just as its belly is passing, Sora unleashes a flurry of blows. Every one of them is powerful and precise, stopping the Heartless in its tracks. Gritting his teeth, the Keybearer unleashes one last blow, light surrounding his weapon.

The creature roars in pain and defiance, flying straight up into the air. It flails its wings about for stability, but ultimately only crashes back to the ground, stunned. Sora dodges the bulk of it and charges, swinging his Keyblade straight for the beast’s massive head.

The blow is straight and true in the center of its forehead. Storm Rider roars once again, flying up into the air and knocking Sora back flat on his backside. It staggers drunkenly a sit rises, in too much pain to go on. As it rises, Sora notices something he hadn’t before. Nearly a dozen pink crystals stick out of the flesh of its belly. The same projectiles used to kill soldiers in the palace.

Used by an Organization XIII Nobody, who can only benefit from the release of such a powerful heart.

He’s almost too caught up in his thoughts to notice the dragon begin to descend again, though now in freefall instead of a dive. It manages the barest amount of course correction before dipping again, too pained to control itself.

It falls toward Mulan, standing alone in the center of Imperial Square. She looks up and gasps as she sees the creature coming for her.

“Mulan!” Shang’s voice calls, the captain rushing to the young woman’s side. He reaches her as the Storm Rider begins to impact, quickly fading out into Darkness. When it’s gone, the two stand unharmed, embracing.

Sora hardly notices, too busy tracking the bright pink heart floating through the air before disappearing.

Shang steps back and clears his throat, looking Mulan over to make she she’s alright. When he finishes his inspection, he finds himself staring into her eyes.

“Uh…” he says, hoping that this isn’t too awkward. Judging by Mulan's face, it isn’t.

She smiles at him, eyes openly adoring. “You run good,” she says, then surges forward to kiss him. After a moment of confusion, he returns it.

**KH-KH-KH**

With disaster averted, everyone stands before the emperor trying to be as reverent as possible.

“It seems that you have served China well once again,” the emperor declares, looking over all of them with a smile. “It would please me to reward you. Anything you wish, you may have if it is within my power to obtain it.”

Azlyn smiles, visions of munny dancing in her head. Telary thinks of the vast resources of knowledge that must be contained in the emperor’s private library.

But Sora, as usual, thinks only of his friend.

“The man in black who came to see you,” the young man begins, thinking carefully over his phrasing, “did he give you his name?”

“Um, no he did not,” the emperor replies, taken back by the simplicity of the request.

“I just, uh, wanted to know if it was my friend Riku.”

The emperor purses his lips, looking thoughtful. “I see. Well, I am afraid that he gave no name at all. In fact, he was rather rude.”

“And that was _after_ he beat me up,” Shang adds.

Sora perks up at that, smiling wide. “Oh, hey, that sounds like Riku! Uh, what did he say exactly?”

“He came to warn me of the danger of the Heartless you confronted,” the emperor explains, still obviously miffed that this is all the young man before him is requesting. “He knew that one of the ancient dragons had been corrupted by someone of evil intent. I was going to prepare my troops, until he told me that it was unnecessary.”

“He said that two wise guys and a loudmouth girl had arrived,” Shang relays with a smile, “and they would take care of things.”

“That’s gotta be Riku!” Sora declares happily, thrusting his fist in the air triumphantly.

“Yeah, who else could so skillfully combine being helpful and being a dick?” Azlyn murmurs, her arms crossed angrily.

Telary still looks worried. “That still doesn’t explain what he’s doing with that Organization coat. Or why he wouldn’t just _talk_ to us.”

Sora shrugs, not obviously concerned. “Yeah, but at least I finally know he’s okay. That’s good enough for now.”

The emperor turns to Mulan. “Now, do you have a request of your own, my dear?”

Mulan takes a deep breath, obviously psyching herself up. “Well, Your Excellency… Could the captain possibly have a vacation, please?”

The emperor’s face falls into pure puzzlement. He leans back on his throne, shaking his head. At his side, Shang’s mouth falls open in shock.

“My goodness,” the emperor chuckles. “Never before have I heard such humble requests from those I offer a gift.” The chuckling peters out, and he looks to Shang, then Mulan once more. “In this case, however, I must refuse.”

“What?” Mulan blurts. Realizing what he’s just done, she slaps a hand over her mouth.

“The captain’s job is to protect the emperor,” the ruler in question explains. “That requires him to remain at my side at all times.”

Mulan's face falls. “I understand, Your Excellency,” she relents with a bowed head.

“However,” the emperor continues, Mulan's head snapping back up at the word, “as recent events have proved, perhaps utilizing merely a single bodyguard is insufficient. How would you like to serve alongside him?”

A bright smile spreads across the girl’s face, and she quickly begins bobbing her head in an enthusiastic nod. Remembering herself suddenly, she bends in a smooth bow. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Shang comes over to her side, and the pair smile at each other.

“Well,” the emperor sighs, “if that is all…”

“Actually,” Telary chimes in, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Your Majesty, we’re actually looking for something. A, uh, a Keyhole. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

The emperor thinks a moment then nods, standing up from his throne. “Captain, would you mind…?” he asks, making a pushing gesture at the throne with his hand.

Shang obliges, pushing the chair aside to reveal a bare patch of floor. There the Keyhole sits, glowing light rising up out of it. Sora quickly seals it, ensuring that the Land of Dragons can never fall.

“Long have I wondered on the purpose of that,” the emperor notes. “It is good to know that my kingdom is safe.”

“Well, that ends that!” Sora declares happily. “I, uh, guess we’d better go. Thanks for everything!”

After exchanging goodbyes, Mulan leads the trio out into the hall. They stand there for a moment, and Mushu pops out of the young woman’s collar.

“Well, it’s been a wild ride with you guys,” the guardian says, smiling broadly at his friends. “Ya sure know how to show a dragon a good time!”

“We aim to please,” Sora declares with a grin.

“I know you’re going to find your friend, Sora,” Mulan offers, a tender hand on the boy’s arm.

“Thanks, Mulan,” Sora tells her with a smile. “I know I will too.”

“Y’know, it’s weird,” Mushu speaks up suddenly.

“What’s weird?” Telary asks.

“Well, I can’t say exactly what,” the dragon muses, scratching thoughtfully at his chin. “But I can’t help but feel that we forgot something.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Up at the mountain basecamp, Hui scoots a little closer to the fire, desperate to fight off the nighttime chill.

“I really do think something happened to ‘em,” Shen says again. It must be the fifth time in as many hours.”

Hui considers this for a moment, then shrugs. “Maybe. But, just to be safe, I’ll give them five more minutes.”


	39. Certain As The Sun

“Hey, Tel,” Sora calls as he ascends the ladder to the Gummi ship’s cockpit, “is everything going alright up there? Not to rush you or anything, but we are kind of in a hurry, racing against the forces of Darkness and… AAAAAAA!!!”

The Keybearer flinches away from the sight before him, raising an arm to block his view. He’s seen quite a bit for a boy his age. Sights of such extreme horror that would have resulted in complete psychotic breaks in others, things he never wants to see again for as long as he lives.

At this moment, they all seem to pale in comparison to finding Azlyn and Telary making out in the Gummi ship pilot’s chair.

“Sora, hi!” Telary greets his young friend cheerfully, reflexively shoving Azlyn off his lap and onto the floor. She lets out a disgruntled yelp. “Uh, sorry. We were just uh, I just…”

Sora sighs, loudly and deeply. Shaking his head in disbelief, he lowers himself out of the room.

“Telary!” Azlyn yells at her boyfriend, looking up at him with a stormy expression.

“Sorry, Az, sorry!” Telary apologizes, which he feels he’s doing even more of than usual lately. “It’s just that, well… I didn’t want to…”

“It’s not like we were doing anything wrong!” Azlyn continues to rant, standing up and sweeping a bit of dust off her clothes. The problem with wearing black is that _everything_ shows. “I was kind of hoping we were at least _headed_ that way, but…”

The loud sound of a throat clearing distracts the couple, pulling their gazes away to the hatch, where once again Sora’s torso is sticking up into the space. Once the boy has their attention, he climbs the last few rungs into the cockpit. In one hand he holds a large transparent jar, something written on the side of it in thick streaks of black ink.

“Look, you two know that I’m happy for you, being together and all,” Sora begins holding the jar behind his back. “And I understand that you’re gonna do what couples do, I get that.”

Azlyn starts to say something, but stops as Sora holds up a single finger.

“But,” he continues, “that doesn’t mean I want to see it all the time. Or ever, really. And so that’s why I made this.”

He finally whips the jar out from behind his back, holding it up so his companions can read the single word written there. Unfortunately for the moment, his handwriting isn’t the cleanest on the best days, and this was written hastily and in the midst of quite a bit of upset.

“Uh, we figured it was glass,” Azlyn deadpans, rolling her eyes at the Keybearer standing before her.

“What?” Sora exclaims, quickly examining the jar. He frowns, realizing that the word he’s written there could indeed be misread. “No, it says ‘gross’. It’s the Gross Jar.”

“The, uh, Gross Jar?” Telary repeats slowly, trying to wrap his head around the idea.

“So your plan to keep us from making out is to puke into a jar whenever you see it?” Azlyn mockingly suggests, a smug grin on her face.

“No, it’s not!” Sora shoots back indignantly, crossing his arms and pouting. “The ‘gross’ part means you two, not me.”

“So, uh,” Telary presses on, confused, “you mean that _we’re_ going to…”

“Nobody is throwing up in this jar!” Shaking his head at the antics of his friends, Sora makes his way to the controls, plopping the jar right onto the computer. Mumbling something under his breath, he draws a thick black marker out of his pocket and adds a ‘$’ after ‘gross’.

Telary is still a bit miffed, but Azlyn gets it instantly. Her mused expression turns to rage in a heartbeat.

“You mean you’re gonna _charge_ us for making out?” the knight yells indignantly, stomping her foot hard against the floor.

Sora shrugs. “Hey, I’m only gonna make you pay if I catch you.” He sighs, expression softening. “Look, I know that you two are happy and in love, and you want to show it, but… Well, it kind of just reminds me of what I’m missing right now, y’know?”

Even Azlyn doesn’t have a comeback for that one. “Yeah, I guess I get your point.”

“We’re sorry, Sora,” Telary sincerely apologizes. “We’ll try to keep it under control.”

Sora gives his friends a great big grin. “It’s fine. Now…” He gives the jar a significant glance, tapping it once for good measure.

“What?” Azlyn cries, back to raging in the face of this injustice. “I’m not forking over any munny for that last one. I didn’t even know about the jar then!”

“Just trying to get across how serious I am,” Sora says, giving the glass another tap.

Azlyn, sneering in disgust, takes a single munny orb from her pocket. With an exaggerated roll of her eyes, she tosses it across the room. It hits Sora dead-on in the middle of his forehead, then falls into the jar with a _clink_. The noise echoes in the quiet cockpit.

“Thanks,” the Keybearer deadpans.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Uh, did we accidentally land in the wrong castle?” Azlyn asks, looking around at the brightly lit foyer of Beast’s Castle.

Gone is the dreary atmosphere, all traces of both doom and gloom sent packing and replaced with a warm, welcoming feeling.

Even the castle’s master himself looks to have gone through something of a makeover. He’s still as beastly and frightening as ever, but the effect is negated somewhat by the fine blue and gold clothes he’s wearing. And by the sheer nervous aura radiating off of him as he paces back and forth.

He looks up at the sound of Azlyn’s voice, and his face drops even more. “Oh, great.”

“Uh, hello to you too,” Sora replies, a bit offended at his furry friend’s unenthusiastic greeting.

“What are you three doing here?” Beast asks, still sounding upset at the trio’s very presence.

“I think I liked it better when he was grunting and charging at us,” Azlyn mutters to Telary.

“Uh, well, we’re here looking for this world’s Keyhole,” Sora announces, his voice shaky and uneasy in the face of blatant hostility.

Beast’s brow furrows. “You mean like that machine in Hollow Bastion?”

“No,” Telary answers. But then he gives it a bit of thought. “Well maybe, kind of. Come to think of it, the connection was never really explained that well.”

“Sealing it is a good thing, Beast,” Sora explains, slowly and calmly. “If we do, then the Heartless can never destroy your world like they did before.”

“Oh,” Beast replies, seeming to calm down a bit. He’s still frowning though. “Well, I suppose that’s rather important, then. But why did it have to be tonight?”

“Well, during the holiday season booking a flight is just impossible,” Azlyn deadpans.

“What’s going on tonight?” Sora asks.

“Oh no!” the unmistakable voice of Cogsworth the butler echoes through the hall. Sora and company turn to see him scurrying out of the parlor, expression stormy. “And I’d had the night planned so well!”

“The thing I love most about travelling around the universe is all the great friends you make!” Azlyn mockingly declares.

“Oh, pish tosh!” Mrs. Potts says, hopping after the clock. “Calm down dear, all that worrying can’t be good for the ol’ ticker!”

“I also love all the puns,” Azlyn adds, finally getting a glare from Telary that informs her she’s gone too far.

“These are our friends!” Lumiere chimes in, flamboyant as ever with all his wicks lit. “Honored guests! They are welcome here at any time!”

“Yes, of course,” Cogsworth relents with a sigh, his eyes rolling. “But why do they have to welcome themselves _tonight_?”

“Okay, for the last time,” Sora says, getting upset, “what is going on tonight?”

“Ahem.”

Everyone in the foyer quiets instantly, turning to look up to the source of the voice. Belle stands at the entrance to the East Wing, dressed in a golden-yellow gown fit for royalty. In this moment, she’s truly living up to her name.

Beast turns away from the crowd and immediately makes his way up the stairs, his eyes glued to Belle all the while.

“Tonight is very important for the master,” Cogsworth informs Sora out of the corner of his mouth. “And for all of us here at the castle as well.”

Telary’s eyes widen as he realizes what the butler means. “Oh, wow. So this is like, a date?”

“Dinner, candlelight, perhaps a bit of dancing, eh?” Lumiere confirms, his waxy eyebrows waggling suggestively.

“Romance in its purest form!” Mrs. Potts giggles.

Azlyn nudges Sora in the shoulder. “How much?” she quietly asks him.

The Keybearer frowns at her, sensing a trap. “Uh, how much what?”

“How much are you gonna charge for this love-dovey stuff, hm?” the knight answers, her face mock-serious. “That’s what you do, right? Force people to pay for happiness in the face of your shortcomings?”

He groans at her. “Azlyn…”

“You look, um, very nice tonight,” Beast complements Belle as she reaches the small landing. He follows up with a bow, the lady curtsying in reply.

She smiles at him, reaching out and patting his blue jacket. “As do you.”

He gives her a toothy smile, offering his arm to her. She smiles back and takes it as the ballroom doors swing open. They walk inside together, everyone else rushing inside after them.

“It sounds like we came at a bad time,” Telary notes as they enter the grand ballroom. “Then again, do we ever _not_ come at a bad time?” He sighs. “I’m beginning to think all this hostility may be a little justified.”

“Nonsense, _mon ami_ ,” Lumiere assures the trio, smiling warmly to all. “We are all very pleased to extend an invitation to our three friends!” He turns around to Belle and the Beast, who stand hand-in-hand, looking into each other’s’ eyes. “May we all heartily enjoy this wonderful evening!”

“Oh, I believe that we will.”

The familiar voice seems to come from all around, flat but tinged with just the barest hint of malice. Xaldin’s voice.

Beast protectively pulls Belle tight against him. Sora and his allies rush to the center of the floor, weapons drawn and ready. Xaldin stands atop the balcony above, the dark shadows of his hood concealing his features.

“So, we meet again Sora,” the Nobody says, placing his black-gloved hands on the rail in front of him. “I must say, your survival of the ordeal at Hollow Bastion was commendable. You even managed to kill one of our members.”

Sora grimaces, and Telary’s entire body winces. The image of Demyx’s demise still haunts them both.

“Well, we’re going for the whole set!” Azlyn calls back to the hooded man, undisturbed.

“Quite so,” Xaldin replies, sounding almost amused. “I am afraid that tonight, however, my business is not with you.”

Beast growls, releasing Belle and stalking forward. His paws flex instinctively, craving a battle against his enemy. “You will _get out_ of my castle!”

“Not before I’ve taken something from you.” Dark energy flashes around Xaldin as a portal ensconces him. “Something you hold very dear.”

Beast roars, enraged. The air above him suddenly shimmers in a flash of light, and Sora instinctively dives forward. His weight just barely manages to stagger Beast, just as three white, black, and purple creatures materialize in thin air. They fall to the ballroom floor and stab straight through it with powerful lances. Then their white wings lift them into the air again.

The strange upside down heart symbol of Nobodies stands out on their thighs.

“C’mon, Beast!” Sora encourages his friend. He offers down a hand to help the former prince, but he rises to his feet without assistance. “We’ve gotta take care of these guys first.”

Azlyn and Telary are already on it. She leaps up and begins slashing a Dragoon with the edge of her shield, while the wizard leads Belle and the servants to the safety of the outside patio. Dusks appear to confound them, but magic makes quick work of them.

Sora jumps for the nearest Nobody, but it proves itself a tricky sort. For a brief moment what seems to be a heat shimmer shines before the creature, and in the next it’s gone. Sora looks around in bewilderment, only through sheer luck noticing that his opponent has appeared again. Directly above him.

The Keybearer dives out of the way as the Nobody stabs into the ground, apparently a popular tactic among its kind. He avoids it, but the impact seems to have a shockwave effect. With a yelp, Sora falls to the floor.

He manages to turn the fall into a roll, coming back to his feet facing the Dragoon. It rises into the air again, looking down at him. Sora grits his teeth and tightens his grip, warily watching for his opponent’s next move.

Bu focusing on the enemy in front of him has the undesired effect of leaving him vulnerable from behind. A Dusk swoops in to take advantage, and soon the Keyblade wielder finds himself flying across the floor. It’s been shined in preparation for tonight’s planned festivities, and he manages to reach the center of the room before skidding to a halt.

A Dragoon appears above him, its spear pointed directly at his heart. Sora squeaks in fright and the creature descends, closing his eyes. Just then he hears the familiar roar of Beast, right above him.

He opens his eyes and sits up, watching as the cursed prince tackles the Nobody to the ground. He raises his paw and swipes down, rending the creature into pieces.

That seems to be the end of it. Sora surveys the secured ballroom, watching as Telary casts a quick Cure spell over Azlyn.

Beast rises, his entire body heaving as he puffs breathes in and out. Gone is the nigh-dapper gentleman, replaced wholly by an enraged monster. His eyes are manically wide, and the fine clothes he had intended to dance in are shredded.

“Beast?” Sora cautiously calls to his friend. The look he gets in response is nearly feral, and the boy steps back in fright. His shoulder aches a bit with phantom pain. “C’mon, Beast, snap out of it. He’s gone.”

Beast begins to calm down as the room’s back door swings open, Belle and the servants cautiously entering the room.

“I’m alright,” Belle assures everyone, and finally Beast relaxes fully. He even looks down at his devastated clothes with shame. “Everyone is alright.”

“Well, that’s good,” Telary says cheerfully. “Looks like Xaldin was just blowing hot air.”

“Why would he do that, though?” Azlyn asks, one eyebrow raised in puzzlement. “Those Nobodies were obviously a distraction, by what do that and not make a move?”

Beast’s eyes widen with realization. He quickly spins on his heel and falls to all fours, rushing out of the ballroom. Sora nearly falls over as he finds himself caught in the backdraft.

“Huh?” the Keybearer grunts, watching the door swing closed. “What’s with him?” He turns just in time to see Belle rushing to the exit as well, holding up her skirt with both hands. “What’s with her?”

**KH-KH-KH**

The trail ends up back in Beast’s room, which Sora idly notes has also gotten quite a good cleaning. The bed is restored and everything’s dusted.

Beast paces back and forth, mumbling incoherent words to himself. Belle watches it all with a concerned frown, nervously playing with the fingers of her gloves.

“What happened?” Sora asks, looking around the room. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Beast states, his voice full of quiet menace. He lets out a growl and slams his paws into the floor. “He took it!”

“What did he take?” Telary asks, maintaining his distance.

“My rose!” Beast’s arm sweeps over the now-empty pedestal that once held the bell jar containing his enchanted bloom. “He took my rose!” Another roar echoes through the small chamber, and Beast knocks the pedestal to the floor. It shatters into several pieces.

“Please, you have to calm down!” Belle urges him, stepping forward. Sora mirrors her movements, just in case.

Beast looks up at her, sharp teeth set in an enraged sneer. “Calm down?”

“We can easily find you another rose.”

“Another…?” Beast repeats mockingly, drawing himself up to his full height. Sora opens his hand in preparation for Keyblade summoning, worried about the way Beast looms over the young lady. “You have no idea what you’re talking about! If you hadn’t wanted a party…”

“Okay, back off her Beast!” Sora admonishes his raging friend. “This isn’t Belle’s fault. There was no way she could have known about this!”

His words seem lost on Beast, who takes a menacing step forward. Sora subtly pushes Belle back to counter, the Keyblade snapping into his hand in a flash of light. For a long moment, everything freezes.

Beast stares at the scene before him, the haze of his rage suddenly clearing. The look of terror and anger he sees on everyone’s face, the faces of his _friends_ , cuts him to the core. He looks away, ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” Belle says, taking a step forward.

Sora stops her, shaking his head. “You don’t have to apologize, Belle.”

Beast continues to say nothing, gazing forlornly at the empty pedestal. After a long moment, he makes a decision.

“Sora,” he says, his voice soft and broken. “Belle… I think you should… I want you to leave the castle.”

Belle lets out a startled gasp, and Sora lets the hand holding the Keyblade droop.

“Beast…” the Keybearer begins, stepping forward.

The cursed prince just turns away again, refusing to look at anyone. “It’s what’s best for all of you. Look at me, what I am.’ He finally turns around, his sad eyes fixed on Belle. “When you first arrived at the castle, I tried to change. For you I wanted to be more than just a beast but… I can’t. I’ll always only be a monster.”

“No, please!” Belle practically pleads. “You can’t mean that, it’s not…”

“Goodbye, Belle,” he states flatly, turning away once again. “You deserve your freedom, and to return to your father. I only deserve this. To be alone.”

Belle looks at him for a long moment, tears welling up in her eyes. After a few long moments, one finally spills over. She frantically wipes at her eyes, then turns and runs for the exit.

Sora watches her go, then turns back to Beast. Opening his mouth, the Keybearer realizes that there’s really nothing left to say. With a defeated shake of his head, the boy turns and follows Belle out of the room, leaving Beast alone.

Just as he wants.

The trio meet Cogsworth, Lumiere, and Mrs. Potts in the hall just in time to see Belle exit the West Wing. The sound of her crying seems to linger in the air even after she’s gone.

“Poor child,” Mrs. Potts comments. “She was so looking forward to this evening, helped with the planning…”

“And then it ends like this,” Azlyn scoffs, scowling. “As if I needed any more of a reason to hate Nobodies.”

“I knew it was foolish to get out hopes up,” Cogsworth chimes in, shaking his head indignantly. “Perhaps it would have been better had she never come at all!”

“Hey, don’t worry about it Cogsworth,” Sora tries to reassure the head butler. “Once we get Beast his rose back, I’m sure things will calm down. Though I’m still not sure what’s got him so upset.”

“The rose is special to master,” Lumiere informs the boy.

“It tells him how much time is left to break the curse,” Telary remembers. “Does it do anything else?”

“Not to our knowledge,” Mrs. Potts declares with a resigned sigh. “But over time, caring for that rose has become a much cherished part of the master’s routine. It’s his lifeline in a way. Losing it…”

“Can’t be as important as losing Belle,” Sora completes. “If not having a flower around is more important to him than Belle leaving, then maybe he doesn’t feel strongly enough about her to break the curse anyway.”

“You know it’s not truly like that, Sora,” Mrs. Potts gently corrects. “As strong as he feels for Belle, he’s still unsure how much she feels for him. After all, the rose can’t reject him.”

“At the end of the day,” Azlyn interrupts with conviction, “we just need to get that rose back, and then everything can go back to normal. Right?”

“Do you think Belle will really leave?” Telary asks the servants.

Mrs. Potts gives an odd hop that seems like the best version of a shrug she can pull off. “She clearly cares for him, and all of us. But on the other hand, it has been quite a while since she’s seen her father.”

“So whatever we do, it needs to be quick,” Sora says decisively. “And the first move we make should be to get Beast out of his funk. If this is that important to him, then he needs to be involved.”

The trio turn right back around, barging into Beast’s room. He looks up at them, frowning.

“I thought I told you to go, Sora,” the cursed man practically spits. “Leave me alone. It’s all I deserve.”

“Oh, knock it off!” Azlyn blusteringly rebukes him. “Every time you stop and throw yourself a pity party, things just get worse.”

Beast draws up to his full, intimidating height once again. But Sora stands firm, facing him down.

“I know you’re angry and hurt right now, but you need to hear this!” the Keybearer declares, pointing a stern finger. Beast’s lip curls, but after a moment he hunches back down. “Do you remember when we first met, back in Hollow Bastion? My best friend had just taken the Keyblade, my new friends had left along with him, and all I had left to defend myself with was a toy sword. I thought I was done for, that all I had been through was for nothing.

“But then I saw you. Beaten down even harder than I was, dripping blood on the floor. But you _stood up_ , Beast. I tried to stop you, but you wouldn’t let me. You told me about your promise to help Belle. You said there was no way you could go back on it. ‘How could I’, you said. That gave me courage, gave me strength. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to pick myself up either. That was _so_ important to me, man.”

The Keybearer sighs, turning away dramatically. “I know you think that the rose is your only hope, and maybe it is. But it’s the only hope Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and the others have too. If you give up on Belle, you’re not only throwing your own happiness away. You’re throwing away any chance _they_ have too. The Beast… the _man_ I know wouldn’t let that happen.”

For a long moment the room is silent, Beast still hunched over the empty rose pedestal. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary watch with bated breath, waiting for some small sign that things are going to change.

Beast raises his head, the movement strong and proud rather than simply angry. “I know one thing.” He turns, facing the trio with a fierce snarl. “This castle belongs to me, that rose is mine! Xaldin can never have it, and he will _never_ be welcome here!”

“Yeah!” Sora cries happily, his companions joining him in a resounding cheer. “Now that’s the Beast I know. C’mon, let’s go get that rose!”

**KH-KH-KH**

“When I heard the big speech,” Azlyn comments dryly, “I kind of assumed you had some sort of plan for getting that rose back.”

Sora sighs, looking around the castle’s entrance hall. He has to admit that the knight’s words have merit. In truth, he’d mostly been hoping that Xaldin might just do them all a favor and jump out of nowhere to attack. That seems to be the Organization’s usual MO, anyway.

“Like I was saying, we just have to persevere!” Sora continues on, smiling weakly at the party. “Keep our heads held high, never give up…”

“My word are you trite.”

The group rushes to the middle of the hall, looking up for the source of Xaldin’s voice. They find him standing on a small ledge high above, in front of a stained glass window. In the crook of his arm he holds the rose’s bell jar. It still glows with a pink light, but its brightness seems diminished.

“One of the unfortunate side-effects of emotion,” the Nobody continues, sounding almost disgusted at the very concept. “And to think that some of my brethren could actually _want_ such things.”

“What do you guys want anyway?” Sora calls up curiously.

“Kingdom Hearts,” Xaldin declares, reaching his free hand for his hood. He pulls it down, revealing a strong face framed by black hair and two incredibly bushy sideburns. His hair is tied up in long black braids that fall down over his shoulders. “Once Kingdom Hearts is ours, we will finally exist fully and completely.”

“Could you possibly explain that in a way that actually makes sense?” Azlyn vainly requests. “I mean, I get that your thing is jerking people around, but c’mon!”

“All you need to know is what we require of you,” Xaldin says mockingly. “And in the case of you, Beast, that would be your Heartless _and_ your Nobody!”

The air shimmers above the heroes, and within seconds the Dragoon Nobodies have returned. Sora and Azlyn leaps back to avoid their initial plunges, but Beast wastes no time flinching at all. Unleashing a roar, he immediately leaps up, grabbing the two Dragoons ad dragging them to the ground. Two swipes of his claws end the creatures.

Azlyn barely hears the soft sound of feet touching stone behind her, and she whirls around to see Xaldin standing before the castle’s doors. Pulling it open, he shoots off one last sneer before heading out.

“Guys!” the knight calls, pointing after the Organization member. They all turn to pursue, but Beast easily outdistances them.

He bursts through the doors, into a small courtyard. It’s raining again, water coming down in sheets. But for that, the place is incredibly quiet and still.

Its master, however, is anything but serene. Beast is nearly frantic, his gaze twitching around the garden as if Xaldin is merely waiting to pop up and yell ‘boo’! But for a long time, nothing happens. After a few hysterical moments, Beast’s eyes finally lock on to the end of the long stone bridge connecting his castle to the woods beyond. The trio tracks his stare, to the curious pink light emerging from the dark foliage.

“Hello!” the familiar voice of Belle calls. “I found it, I found the rose!”

“Belle!” Beast exclaims, rushing under the courtyard arch and across the bridge. The trio follow close behind.

Belle, a black cape wrapped around her, rushes across the bridge. Even from a distance it’s easy to see that she looks pleased.

“Is it just me,” Azlyn states through huffing breaths, “or does that just seem a little too...”

Dark energy sprouts before Belle, quickly revealing Xaldin. The Princess of Heart shrieks once in surprise and attempts to turn and run the opposite direction. But the Nobody is too fast, grabbing her harshly by the arm. He pulls her to him, simultaneously snatching the rose’s bell jar into the crook of his other elbow.

“Belle!” Beast yells again, his voice frantic. The cursed prince immediately stops, skidding to a halt a few feet away from Xaldin and his hostage. “Xaldin, you get out of my castle _now_!”

“Oh, I plan to,” the Nobody chuckles, smiling cruelly. “Even _I_ find its design scheme depressing. But, I’d rather travel light.” He quickly looks over Belle, his gloved hand pressed over her mouth, and the rose. Following his leering gaze, Sora can’t help but note that the rose looks significantly less healthy than he remembers. Only a few measly petals cling to it. “So, which shall I leave behind? It’s entirely your choice.”

“Belle,” Beast declares without a moment’s hesitation. All the same, his head hangs. “Please, let her go.”

“Is that _really_ your choice?” Xaldin asks with a sneer. “Very interesting. Especially considering this rose is near death.”

“Thanks to you!” Sora cries out angrily.

The Organization XIII member shrugs. “I’m not rather known for my gentleness.”

“Let her go, Xaldin,” Beast says in a soft voice, full of concern and something else. “Don’t hurt her… I love her.”

“Love!” Xaldin scoffs, throwing his head back and laughing. “Love is the most pitiful emotion of all, and you are living proof.” He looks back down to Belle. “Perhaps you require a lesson in its futility.”

“Belle!” Beast cries out in anguish, rushing forward in a desperate attempt.

But he’s too slow.

Not for Xaldin, as it turns out, but for _Belle_! The girl pushes against Xaldin’s arm, forcing his grip to loosen. Pressing her advantage, she pulls back her own arm, jamming her elbow into the Nobody’s gut. He grunts and staggers back, and Belle quickly spins, grabs the rose, and breaks free entirely.

Everyone pauses in surprise, watching wordlessly as Belle rushes back up the bridge, bell jar in hand. She wears a smile a mile wide, proud of providing what assistance she could.

“Alright!” Azlyn cheers, the first to find her voice. “You go Belle!”

“Nice!” Sora concurs.

Beast says nothing, already focused once again on Xaldin. He rushes forward in a fury, but Xaldin merely waves a hand, summoning a gust of wind strong enough to knock the cursed prince back.

“Well,” he gloats, a smug grin on his face, “it seems that this is going to be even more fun than I had suspected.”

He raises his hands to the sky, summoning six tornadoes around him, each one kicking up a column of dust and dirt. Lightning strikes in the midst of each, and then the funnels disappear entirely. In their place stand six spears, each quickly flying into the air.

Three fall into Xaldin’s hands, one in his left and two in his right. The others stop midair, floating around the Nobody’s body through the propulsion of a sphere of wind. He floats into the air, regarding his foes with a sneer.

“Come at me then, Keybearer,” he gloats, weapons at the ready.

Sora takes him up on that offer, Beast right beside him. The pair attack from different directions, Sora diving in on the right and Beast from the left. Sora’s Keyblade swing is countered by a spear but Beast manages to dodge two of the weapons and get his furred arms around the villain.

Xaldin doesn’t seem a bit concerned, falling along with Beast and using his wind powers to lift the cursed man off the ground and flip him over. Beast slams into the ground, roaring in rage as Xaldin escapes his grip.

The Nobody presses his attack, calling the spears back to him. He glides towards Sora, but Azlyn gets there first, blocking three spears on her shield. Pushing them off, she ducks and dives. But Xaldin is either prepared for it or graced with extremely well-honed reflexes, for he easily sidesteps.

Telary hangs back as usual, assessing the situation before he decides where to apply his magical might. But Xaldin seems determined not to give him the chance. While holding Sora and Azlyn off simultaneously, no mean feat, he reaches out with a gloved hand. Wind swirls and coalesces into a ball of white energy. The orb charges at Telary, so he naturally dives to the side.

Except the wind sphere seems to possess tracking capabilities, swerving left and colliding with the wizard. It hits with the force of a small vehicle, knocking him forward. Then it keeps on coming, hitting him again and again before finally dissipating after a dozen hits. The wizard isn’t unconscious, but very much dazed and in pain.

Even through her struggle with Xaldin, Azlyn can see this. She growls at the Nobody. “Big mistake, freak!”

The knight knocks away a spear and charges, ducking under the swing of two free-floating weapons. She pops up beneath Xaldin’s guard, managing to land a hit on his upper chest. Without any ground to anchor him, the Nobody flies back several feet.

Beast is there, leaping up and wrapping his huge arms around the Organization member. The aura of wind around the Nobody dissipates, but he quickly reenergizes it. Once again he sets himself and his captor spinning, hoping to get stun Beast enough to make him let go.

But Beast hangs on tightly this time, shrugging off several impacts with the stone of the bridge. Frustrated, Xaldin lets out a grunt, freeing one arm and thrusting it out in front of him. Two spears appear, flying straight through the air. He times the next spin in his sphere to give them a clear path to Beast’s broad back.

His calculations are off by milliseconds, which luckily for Beast is enough to keep him from being run through. Instead they merely leave shallow cuts in the back of his cloak and shirt. Blood wells up in the wounds.

Xaldin grunts again and rears back, summoning a gale that manages to tear him from Beast’s grip. He turns and kicks against the cursed prince’s jaw.

With that out of the way, the Nobody summons his spears to him once again. Just in time, too. He grips one in each hand and crosses them in front of his body in an X, stopping simultaneous attack from Sora and Azlyn. A quick flick of his wrist disengages the heroes’ weapons, and he thrusst out the spears.

Sora calls up a reflect spell that blocks for both of them, directing the force of the stabs back at Xaldin. He stumbles back and Sora moves forward, but a gust of wind knocks the boy back. He careens into Azlyn, and they both go to the ground.

A fireball impacts against the Nobody’s back, and he quickly whips around to see that Telary has recovered himself. Xaldin scowls and glides forward on a cushion of air. He swings all six spears in a wide arc, and the wizard barely ducks. He performs a sloppy-but-serviceable backwards somersault, coming up and firing off another pair of fireballs.

A spear stabs into the ground next to him, whipping up a small tornado that knocks him back several stumbling steps. Then another spear comes in swinging, and the wizard raises his staff just in time to block it. A third spear swings in, this one coming in low. He stumbles back, but it manages to cut a gash across his stomach. Letting out a grunt, he falls down.

Xaldin moves quickly, but not before Sora and Azlyn are back, both slamming feet first into him. He swings the two spears in his right hand in retaliation, knocking them both back. Telary has scrambled away by now, casting a quick healing spell that closes his stomach wound.

Beast jumps in, swiping a paw at Xaldin’s midsection. The fabric of his black coat tears, and even a few small droplets of blood come flying out. Another claw swipe has the same effect. Sora lands a hit on the Nobody’s back, and Azlyn knocks the edge of her shield into his other side. The trio begin doing their worst, pummeling Xaldin as hard as they can.

Xaldin hunches over, closing his eyes, retreating into himself. Gathering power.

With a might grunt he flings his arms outward, the sphere of wind billowing out once again and knocking everyone back. The sphere surround him, slowly forming up into a long, snakelike conglomeration. The Nobody leaps atop it, rising into the air.

It slithers threw the air, creating a backdraft that throws the heroes back considerably.

“It seems that I underestimated you all,” Xaldin calls down imperiously, his face set in a grim expression. “But you have managed to prove your worthiness.”

“I don’t suppose that means we get a congratulatory handshake and then you leave, huh?” Telary nervously quips.

“Afraid not. You just get to die.”

Three spears open on the tip of the snake, like a giant gaping maw. A cyclone shoots forth, sweeping down on the party. They yelp and scatter, but even the tail end of the blast is enough to pick Azlyn and Telary off the ground. They fly through the air screaming, then land in a heap at the forest-end of the bridge. Dragoon Nobodies appear, surrounding them as they rise.

Sora merely stumbles as he flees, and Beast stands strong and unyielding. Roaring with rage and determination, he takes a running leap at Xaldin. The Nobody just laughs, a short, cruel bark of derision. Another cyclone emerges from his spear-monster, hitting the cursed prince full-on. He goes flying back, slamming into the arch at the castle-end of the bridge.

Xaldin moves in on the nearly unconscious master of the castle, but Sora is already on the move. With a determined yelp he leaps up and grabs the spear-monster, swinging up onto its back. He rushes his opponent, Keyblade pulled back for a swing.

Xaldin spins around at the last possible moment, a spear suddenly in his hand. The long haft blocks the blade, locking the pair in a struggle for dominance.

“Even better than I expected,” Xaldin informs Sora, leering at the boy. “I’m beginning to see now how you could have beaten them all.”

“Beaten who?” Sora asks, his voice strained with all the effort he’s exerting. “Why are all you Organization guys so vague all the time?”

“I’d say it was for fun,” he shoots back, “but then I’d only be fooling myself, wouldn’t I?”

He steps forward to force Sora back, but the Keybearer only willingly gives up the ground. Halfway through his backstep, he instead kicks out and lands a fierce blow to his opponent’s knee. The Nobody cries out in pain, faltering just enough to give Sora the advantage. With a grunt, the Keybearer heaves forward and pushes him to the ground.

Xaldin lands hard on his back, spears clattering down around him without his wind powers to keep them aloft. Sora lands and rushes him, but he’s quick enough to rise and pull two spears towards him. He catches one in each hand, crossing them in an X to block Sora’s attack.

The Keybearer immediately breaks off and starts swinging wildly, focused mainly on keeping Xaldin occupied enough with blocking that he can’t call any more spears to him. It seems to work, and the pair duel across the bridge for a few dozen seconds.

Sora hops back after a strike, then ducks and rolls forward past Xaldin as the Organization member swipes both spears through the air in a scissor slash. He comes to his feet as Xaldin is turning, and manages to score a solid hit. He takes the split second in which Xaldin staggers to catch a glimpse of Azlyn and Telary finishing off his flying minions.

It only barely distracts him, but that’s enough for his opponent. Without so much as a gesture, the Nobody summons an upward gust of wind. It hits Sora in the shins and bowls him over, landing in a heap on the very edge of the bridge. He hears the wind howling below.

Telary shoots off a fire ball at Xaldin’s back, but it impacts without much damage. Clearly the wizard’s supply of magic is dwindling. A negligent breeze slams into him, knocking Telary to the ground as well. He falls into Azlyn’s legs to send her staggering as well.

Sora rises quickly and charges, but Xaldin knocks his swing away with his spear. Laughing, he sweeps the other weapon through the air. Sora is in too close range to get cut, but the long shaft smacks into his temple. He falls back, confused and disoriented. Half-conscious, he barely manages to scoot away.

Xaldin moves forward in reply, his weapon already raised and pointed at the Keybearer’s heart. Grunting, he thrusts the weapon down.

Beast slams into the Nobody like the Gummi ship in full thrust. Sora watches as the pair roll along the very edge of the bridge, tangled together in the midst of close-range combat. It looks fast and furious and frantic, and the Beast rolls to his feet.

With Xaldin’s neck squeezed in his paw, the Nobody suspended above the yawning chasm below.

“Get out of my castle,” he says simply. His arm twitches and shakes, and Sora can hear Xaldin’s neck snap even from over a yard away.

Beast releases the Nobody, his limp body falling into the darkness below.

“Alright Beast!” Sora calls out, getting to his feet as the spears surrounding him dissipate as well. He moves towards his friend, grinning.

Until Beast turns to face him, blood oozing through a gash in his white shirt. He opens his mouth and says nothing, falling to the ground.

“Beast!” Sora cries again, this time in anguish. He leans forward to sprint to his friend, only to be knocked aside by Belle, the enchanted servants following along after her. She falls to her knees before the cursed prince. “Telary, get over here now!”

Sora stops by Belle’s side, looking down at Beast. The wound is obviously as bad as it had looked, and his eyes can barely focus. Belle looks over him worriedly, whispering words Sora can’t hear.

“Oh no,” Azlyn says quietly, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Telary, c’mon!” Sora begs the wizard pushing him towards the fallen Beast. “Heal him, hurry up!”

The older man nods once, looking hesitant. “I’ll try, but…” He waves his staff over Beast’s body, biting his lip worriedly. Green sparks flash on the tip of the wand, but the glow around Beast isn’t nearly as strong as it should be.

The cursed prince’s expression relaxes a little, but the gash remains.

“What’s happening?” Sora demands, grabbing roughly at the back of Telary’s hoodie. “Why didn’t it…?”

“I tried, Sora,” the wizard replies, shaking his head as tears mix with the falling rain. “But I, I must have used so much magic in the battle that…”

“Belle,” Beast gasps. Telary’s spell hadn’t done much, but at least now he can speak. Belle gathers up his right paw in both her hands, pressing it to her face.

“It’s alright, I’m here,” the Princess of Heart reassures him, her voice shaking. “You’re going to be fine, everything will be alright.”

“You came back,” Beast notes, wincing at the pain wracking his entire being. “You found the rose, and then you came back to…”

“I never wanted to leave in the first place,” she says, shaking her head reassuringly. “And when I saw the rose, I had to bring it back. I knew it was very important to you.”

“Not as important,” Beast breathes out, flexing his fingers ever-so-gently around Belle’s, “as you.”

It’s all he can manage before his eyes roll back into his head. His body goes limp.

“No!” Belle whispers desperately, sobs wracking her voice. She falls atop Beast, holding his body in her arms. “Please, no! You can’t go! I love you!”

It’s the exact words she needs to say, only just too late.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary huddle together, all of them crying as well. The servants droop, dismayed at their master’s demise.

And, forgotten in the castle courtyard, the last petal falls from the enchanted rose.

Sora raises his head to wipe away a tear, when suddenly something catches his eye. A bright streak of light falls through the rain, landing against the stone bridge in a shower of sparks. Moments later, another appears, then another.

Now Belle and the servants have noticed, streaks falling in duos and trios, then suddenly a small deluge, lights as numerous as the rain. Steam begins to rise around Beast’s body, and strangest of all he begins to float into the air.

The rain stops.

Belle scoots away, transfixed upon the transformation taking place in front of her. Everyone else is too, staring in slack-jawed awe. Pure white light shines from Beast’s body, blinding everyone in the dark. They all back away, hiding their faces.

After a long moment the light fades, finally giving everyone a chance to see what has just happened.

A man stands before them, dressed in Beast’s clothes. Despite their size difference, the garments fit perfectly. He’s facing away from the group, his neck and head hidden by long, golden-blond hair.

Belle takes a cautious step forward, then one back as the man turns around. He’s beautiful, so beautiful that the trio find their mouths dropping.

“Belle?” the man says, his confused voice familiar. He looks down at himself, running his hands over his body.

The Princess of Heart steps forward, peering intently at the handsome face before her. “Is this…? Is it really…?”

“It’s me, Belle,” the man declares, taking her hands. They look into each other’s eyes, and suddenly everything seems to click into place.

“It is you!” Belle exclaims, leaping up to kiss him. He pulls her in close, embracing passionately.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary are clutching each other as well. They’re still crying, but for a different reason entirely. They only look up upon seeing another bright flash of light, swirling around Belle and the prince. It shoots into the air and explodes, sparks raining down from the sky like the rain.

Belle and the prince pull back from their embrace to watch it, and Sora sees it as the perfect time to jump in for a tackling hug. He wraps his arms around both of them, laughing like a loon.

“Whoa!” Telary exclaims, and when Sora and the lovers turn to look they see two men and a woman standing before them, all smiling broadly and examining themselves in amazement.

“Lumiere!” the prince cries joyously, letting go of Sora and Belle and rushing to his friends. “Cogsworth! Mrs. Potts!”

“Momma!” a little boy’s voice calls out. Everyone looks further down the bridge to see Chip running towards them. He leaps into his mother’s arms and she picks him up.

“It’s a miracle!” Lumiere exclaims, laughing along with everyone present. “A miracle!”

As everyone celebrates, the prince returns to Belle, holding her once again. Sora watches them with tearful eyes. He’s thinking of Kairi, can’t help it.

“Would ya look at that?” Azlyn says, sidling up next to him. She’s playing it cool, but Sora can see where she’d wiped tears away. “A beautiful, natural expression of overwhelming love and passion that cannot possibly be denied, or kept in check by petty…”

He rolls his eyes at the girl’s obvious antics. “The jar stays, Az.”

“Oh, come on!”

Everyone returns to the castle foyer, greeted by a mob of uncursed servants. Lumiere immediately goes to a young woman in the uniform of a maid, and a particularly large woman begins singing in a keening soprano. Even the décor is different, the sculptures and busts of horrifying monsters replaced with beautiful angels.

A light shines down from above, and Sora looks up to the stained glass window, where not long ago Xaldin had dismissed emotion entirely. Looking closer, Sora sees that the light is from the glowing outline of a keyhole. Smiling, he raises the Keyblade and shoots a beam of light through it. Now, no matter what, this world and his friends are protected.

“Sora, look!” Telary says, nudging the Keybearer with his elbow. He gestures forward, where Belle and the prince dance together despite the lack of music. “After all this time, they finally got a happy ending.”

“They sure did,” Sora agrees, wiping away new tears. In his heart, he hopes that someday he and Kairi will have their chance too.

_Certain as the sun, Rising in the east!_

_Tale as old as time, Song as old as rhyme,_

_Beauty and the Beast!_


	40. A Hero's Heart

“Okay,” Azlyn says, sounding satisfied, “that should do it. Right?”

She turns to look at Telary, who’s sitting on the edge of the bed in her cabin. He looks over at her and nods. “I, uh, I think so. Unless he’s _really_ determined to get in here.”

“How determined?” she asks, thoughtfully looking over the room’s door. It’s been locked, the chain is secured, and a heavy wooden dresser is parked in front of it. In theory, totally Sora-proof.

The wizard shrugs, laughing a little. “That was a joke, Azlyn.” He stops for a moment, pursing his lips as he thinks over how odd it is that _he_ just said those words to _her_.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” the knight says, sauntering over to her boyfriend. His gaze falls to her hips, swinging exaggeratedly.

“Uh, I guess so.” He smiles at her, still a bit nervous despite his relative experience with her in this area.

“Well,” she straddles him, still smiling, “how did you know that’s how I like it?”

He reaches up and puts his arms around her neck, pulling her lips closer to his. “Just a lucky guess, I suppose…”

The last word trails off as they kiss. Both of them find their entire bodies tingling, the sensations of being in love just as pleasant now as they were the first time. The kiss doesn’t last long, but after a moment Azlyn follows it up with another. Telary directs the third lower, against the delicate skin of her neck rather that her lips.

She makes a low, pleased noise, throwing her head back. She closes her eyes as he kisses her again, losing herself in the feeling of…

_Blump!_

Both of the lovers feel themselves convulsing at the loud noise of something fairly large smacking into their door. At least this time Telary has the presence of mind to not drop his girlfriend to the floor.

“Ow!” Sora yells, his voice muffled by several layers of wood. “Hey, is this…? It’s locked! Do you guys seriously think that’s enough to keep _me_ , the Keyblade master, out?”

“Sora!” Azlyn angrily yells, pushing herself out of Telary’s lap.

“I know, I know!” the boy apologizes. “And believe me, I appreciate that you guys are making an effort, but I’ve got something you’ll want to see.”

Azlyn opens her mouth to ask if it can wait.

“And no, it can’t wait!”

The knight growls, stalking over to the dresser blocking the door. With a single enraged heave, she pushes it aside. Telary’s eyebrows shoot up, impressed. It had taken _both_ of them to push it there in the first place.

Azlyn undoes the chain, flips the lock, and opens the door to reveal Sora standing there. Telary notes that he’s got a rolled up scroll clutched in his hand.

“This just came…” He gets distracted, staring at the dresser. “Did you have that in front of the door? Man, you really will do anything to get a little…”

“The _point_ , Sora?” Azlyn cuts him off. She gestures to the paper in his hand. “I assume it has something to do with that?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sora answers, grinning. “Two little monster things showed up and gave it to me. Well, actually I thought they were Heartless and attacked them. But once I was sure they weren’t, they gave it to me.”

“What is it?” Telary asks, getting up off the bed and striding quickly to his companions.

“A scroll,” Sora jokes, giggling to himself. To Telary’s great insult, Azlyn joins him.

The wizard rolls his eyes. “I mean what does it _say_? Though I admit, that was a pretty good one.”

Sora unrolls the paper, holding it out so his friends can read it.

“The Hades Cup,” Azlyn reads the bolded words at the top of the scroll. “‘Come test your strength in the only game worthy of the name. Fierce opponents, fabulous prizes, and fun await.’ Wow, he really had to strain for that 3rd ‘F’ didn’t he?”

“Hades is hosting his own games?” Telary says, taking the paper from Sora and reading it himself. “How could he do that? The hydra destroyed the coliseum. There’s no way they could have it back up again yet.”

“Not to mention the fact that _he_ sent the hydra,” Sora adds. “Anyway, what do you guys think?”

Telary shrugs. “Not sure. I mean, we don’t really have any need to go back to Olympus. The Keyhole’s sealed. On the other hand, this is obviously some kind of scheme. Probably Hercules got one of these too.”

Azlyn grimaces. “And considering how down he was last time we saw him, there’s no way he’d stand a chance!”

“Well, then that’s it,” Sora declares, slamming a fist into his open palm. “Let’s go play some games!”

**KH-KH-KH**

It seems that Hades has done some cleaning up in the entrance hall to the Underworld. Large bowls of blue fire, a dark echo of the coliseum above, line the shore of Styx. Across the dark, soul-filled waters, a large round building made of black stone rests. Large swathes of blue light move about it, illuminating an entrance that resembles an open-mouthed skull.

“That looks new,” Sora comments, surveying the foreboding building with his hands on his hips. “Or did we just not notice it before?”

“I don’t think so,” Azlyn speaks up, shaking her head. “Overlooking something right in front of your nose may be something _you_ would do, but Tel and I definitely wouldn’t.”

“It’s called the Underdrome.”

The sudden voice startles the entire trio. Turning quickly, they see Auron standing beside them. The old man looks as passive as ever, gazing down at them.

“Oh, uh hi Auron,” Sora greets once he has his breathing back under control. “How’s it going?”

“What’s the Underdrome?” Azlyn asks, shouldering the Keybearer aside.

“Used to be Hades’ version of the coliseum,” Auron explains, looking back across the water. “Demons and dead souls all fought here to entertain Hades. He was running a deal where imprisoned souls could earn their freedom from the Underworld, but Zeus didn’t like it. He closed the Underdrome up, locked it away.” He gives Sora significant look. “How it got _un_ locked is anyone’s guess.”

The Keybearer gets his meaning, blushing furiously. “Uh, yeah,” he says, scratching at the back of his head and trying to play the whole thing off. “What kind of idiot would do something like that?”

“ _Your_ kind of idiot, I’d imagine,” Azlyn quips, smirking slightly. Behind her, Telary can’t help but grin a bit as well.

Auron says nothing more on the subject, shaking his head once before silently walking away.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Sora calls after the enigmatic warrior. “Where are you going, don’t you have a little time to catch up?”

In all honesty, Sora isn’t sure what to make of Auron. He’d immediately helped them out of a scrape with Hades during their first visit to the Underworld, but had seemed unaffected by the curse of the land that laid low any hero who dared enter.

“If you need something to do,” the man says without stopping, “why don’t you go help your friends?”

He inclines his head towards the stairway down from the world above, and Sora follows to movement to find Hercules and his wife Megara standing just past the underground’s entrance. When he looks back to Auron, the man is gone.

It’s yet another mystery, but Sora decides that it can wait until later. With a wave of his hand he gathers his companions, the trio making for their heroic friend.

Except Hercules still doesn’t look very heroic at all, his skin pale and his countenance grim. Meg is doing her best to seem cheerful, but even from a distance Sora can tell that it’s hard for her to completely pull it off.

“Hey there, Herc!” Sora greets the demigod with a wave and a broad grin. “Been a long time, eh? You feeling any better?”

Herc gives a noncommittal shrug. At his side, Meg rolls her eyes and announces, “Well, it’s pretty much business as usual. Wonderboy thinks his heroing days are done, Phil thinks it’s all in his head, and _I_ think everybody should just learn to make do with a stiff drink.”

“You’re still on this?” Azlyn practically scoffs, ignoring the scandalized look Telary shoots her at the harsh words. “Hercules, we all know what a great hero you are! We’ve seen you in action against Cerberus, Pete and the Heartless, Hades…”

“Speaking of,” Telary cuts off his girlfriend. He reaches into a pouch and produces the rolled up Hades Cup invite. “I assume you’re here because you got one of these things too?”

Herc nods, and Meg holds up a scroll in the hand not currently gripping her husband’s forearm.

“Sure did,” the woman confirms, frowning at the piece of paper. The trio are aware that Herc’s wife and the god of the Underworld have some form of history, but no idea what form that history takes. “Smells like trouble.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from that lowlife,” Sora agrees. “Every time he shows up, it’s nothing but bad news.”

“Geeze Louise, Keybrat,” a familiar smarmy voice rings out all through the cavern. “Have you ever thought about a career in heralding?”

A puff of grey smoke erupts in the midst of the group, and everyone’s already glaring at the spot when it clears to reveal Hades in all his slimy “glory”.

“Seriously,” he continues, leaning his elbow on empty air, “a god should have to _pay_ for an amazing intro like that.”

“Oh, we’ll make you pay!” Sora says threateningly.

Hades just rolls his eyes. “Sure thing kid, I’m quaking in my toga, really.” The god looks up at Hercules, giving him a quick once over. As he surveys his nemesis, the blue-skinned deity’s grin only broadens. “Hiya, _Herc_. Long time no see. Been busy up in that two-bit coliseum?”

“Hades,” Herc says threateningly, though his tone is limp and lifeless.

The Lord of the Dead smacks his forehead dramatically. “Oh yeah, that’s right! Your place is undergoing a little remodel, I forgot!”

“Yeah, because your stupid Hydra destroyed it!” Azlyn yells. There’s nothing limp in her tone.

Hades shrugs nonchalantly. “Sure, okay, if you wanna dwell on the past that’s fine. Place needed a little sprucing up anyway.” He regards Herc once again. “That must be why you’re wearing that heroically handsome face so long these days, eh? Ya got all this pent up energy and no outlet for it!

“Well, worry not, oh dear nephew of mine!” Hades announces, backing up to the shore of Styx, the Underdrome’s lights shining behind him. “The Underdrome is back, open for business, and ready for a headliner like you to come and fill the stands! For too many years have our world’s athletic competitions been hampered by things like ‘rules’, and ‘safety standards’. ‘Mandatory drug tests’. It’s time for a new kind of tournament, unencumbered by the moralistic imperatives of ‘polite’ society. It’s time, for the _Hades Cup_!”

A sudden cheer rises up, seemingly from nowhere. Telary steps a little closer to Azlyn, but other than that the heroes show no fear.

“The ultimate test to find the ultimate hero!” Hades finishes, smirking at the invisible crowd of lost souls. He gives Hercules a significant glance. “Which of course means that Hercules will be competing, as well as the Keyblade’s own chosen wielder! It wouldn’t be a competition without them!”

Sora scowls at his adversary, but Hercules only frowns. He hardly looks ready for a fight.

“Is that a lack of enthusiasm I spy, Wonderbreath?” Hades inquires moving closer. “C’mon, this is just the kind of therapy you need. And hey, did I mention that someone very close to you may come to harm if you refuse to participate?”

Hercules immediately moves to shield Meg, and it’s pretty much the first sign of the old hero Sora has seem this visit. Hades notes that with a smug smile, then vanishes in another column of smoke.

“Lowlife!” Sora calls to the empty air.

“Bastard!” Azlyn adds angrily.

“You, uh, you big meanie!” Telary throws in.

“You kids are really just _too_ kind,” Hades’ mocks the trio.

Sora turns back to Herc and Meg, still sneering at Hades. The expression softens as he takes in his heroic friend. Herc looks more nervous and unsure than the Keybearer can ever recall him being.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Hercules,” Sora assures the demigod. “If you’re worried about competing, you can totally join me, Azlyn, and Telary. One big True Hero team!”

“Are you guys sure?” Hercules asks, only looking slightly less downcast. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to slow you down or…”

“Quit it!” the trio calls out as one, cutting off the demigod’s mope before it can get going.

 A large white tent has somehow been set up on the shore since Hades left, ‘Hades CUP SIGN UP’ hanging over it, and the newly formed quarter head over to it.

“Good morning, afternoon, or evening, sirs and madam,” the round magenta imp Pain greets them. He and his skinny turquoise buddy, Panic, sit behind a large folding table. An open ledger sits in front of them.

Azlyn and Telary eye another smaller table off to the side, particularly a stack of donuts piled on a plate underneath a glass dome. The knight heads over without preamble, reaching for a pastry.

She gets a few inches from a nice glazed when a sudden electric shock zaps her hand. “Ouch!”

“Sorry, that food is for competitors only,” Panic informs her, snickering under his breath.

“Well then, uh, we’d like to sign up for the games,” Sora tells Pain, picking up the feathered pin resting by the ledger.

“Of course, of course,” Pain says with an acquiescent bow of his head. “Just write down your team name and all of its members.”

Sora pauses a moment, deep in thought. He glances over his shoulder at his companions (including a very anxious Azlyn), then smiles as he’s hit with a brainstorm. As soon as he lifts the pen again, Azlyn rushes back to the snacks table.

A single donut remains on the plate, and she lunges for it, slamming her hand down on it triumphantly.

Until a scaly purple hand lands atop hers.

Scowling, the knight looks up. What she sees there only deepens her rage.

“Well, look what we have here,” a raspy yet distinctly feminine voice hisses. It belongs to what can only be described as a large, long-eared, purple-skinned lizard walking upon two legs. A skirt of a darker purple than her skin swirls about her legs, and a matching bikini top covers her chest (Though what is under it no one hazards to guess). “I remember you, little Hume girl. You took issue with the support I showed for my brothers in last year’s games.”

Azlyn nods, a razor thin smile sliding across her face. “And you’re the big ugly lizard who wouldn’t shut up.”

“What did you call me!” The creature’s hand quickly darts beneath her skirt, coming away with a larger dagger held in it. She thrusts it at Azlyn, but the knight easily sidesteps and bats her scaly arm away. She makes sure to dig an elbow into her opponent’s wrist, and the dagger goes flying away.

“Azlyn!” Telary exclaims exasperatedly, rather upset that the girl can’t seem to save the fighting for the arena. His yell draws the attention of Sora and Hercules.

“Rinok, you worthless wench!” another raspy voice call out, heavy with contempt. A green lizard man follows along after it, wearing nothing but baggy brown pants, two brown leather straps running parallel across his chest, and a grimy, half-rusted shoulder pauldron. “Even Gijuk is managing to save it for the…” He manages to get a glimpse of Sora, and suddenly his eyes turn cold.

“Oh, I remember you!” Sora says, greeting the hostile creature with his usual cheer. “Ba'Gamnan, wasn’t it? The Bangaa Bros? You and your brothers put up a great fight in the Hercules Cup!”

Ba'Gamnan regards the Keybearer with steely contempt. “Don’t be trying to psyche me out, whelp. You ain’t gonna humiliate me again!”

“I’ll second that,” Rinok adds, dusting off her skirt. “Especially since _I’m_ joining in on the fighting this year.”

“Isn’t that interesting?” Azlyn says with another smirk. “Considering I am too.”

Rinok nods, flashing a small grin that’s more malicious than joyful. “Then I suppose we settle this in the arena.”

“I suppose we do.”

The bangaa siblings turn and stalk away from the registration tent, Ba'Gamnan throwing one last look over his shoulder as they go.

Telary walks up to his counterpart and sighs, exasperated as usual. “You just make friends everywhere we go, huh?”

Azlyn shrugs in reply. “Nature of the beast, baby,” she cockily exclaims, throwing in an affectionate punch to her boyfriend’s arm.

“Hey guys!” Sora calls to the pair from over by the bracket board. They move over to him and Herc. “It looks like Auron signed up for the tournament too. But he’s in an entirely different bracket. We won’t face him until the finals.”

“If we get that far,” Herc sighs, earning another quick round of condemnation from his younger teammates. “Who’s this Auron anyway? Some kind of hero?”

Sora hesitates for a moment, then ultimately just shrugs. “I guess. He helped us get away from Hades while we were still under the Underworld curse. But really we don’t know him that well.”

“We can ask more about him once we’ve kicked his butt,” Azlyn confidently declares.

Telary studies the board. “I guess we’re the first match. Says here that our opponent is a team calling themselves ‘Gamblers’.”

Sora snorts once. “I just hope things don’t get too… _dicey_!”

Azlyn practically feels an obligation to shove him harshly.

**KH-KH-KH**

A small boat ferries Sora and company through the Styx and to the small island upon which the Underdrome itself sits. The arena is even more imposing up close, and the sound of cheering echoes out of its entrance.

Panic leads the quartet inside the arena itself, across a thin but steady rock bridge and onto a large circular platform. The cheering around them is more intense than ever, but no one is in evidence.

“Okay, this is creepy,” Sora remarks, looking around at the empty seats. “There’s no one here, but…”

“Probably a lot of old lost souls in here,” Herc explains, taking a look around himself. “I’m part god, so I can kind of see them. You can’t?”

Sora shakes his head. “No, I definitely don’t see dead people.”

“Greetings, everyone!” Hades calls out suddenly, emerging onto his private balcony. A large throne waits for him to sit upon it. “And welcome to the very first match of the Hades Cup!”

Again cheering erupts from seemingly nowhere. Even knowing its probable origins, it sets the offworlder trio on edge.

“Whether you’re watching here in the arena yourself, or joining us _live_ from Thebes via scrying pool, this is sure to be a fight you won’t forget! First off, it is my great pleasure to introduce the first team of the match. Team Kebble!”

“Kebble?” Azlyn and Telary simultaneously exclaim, looking to Sora for an explanation. The boy is scowling up at Hades’ balcony.

“That’s Team _Keyblade_!” Sora calls up, clenching his fists in annoyance.

“Oh, sorry kid,” Hades replies with a shrug. He holds up a piece of paper and points to it. “It’s just that looking here, I thought you wrote Kebble.”

“We really need to do some work on your handwriting, Sora,” Telary whispers to his young friend.

“And the challenger for this match,” Hades continues. “The Gamblers!”

Several white flashes of light suddenly spark on the other side of the column, then fade out to reveal six tall creatures that resemble voluminous white and pink robes with nothing inside them. Their shape is odd, yet familiar to Sora…

“Nobodies!” he exclaims, his eyes widening at the revelation. “A bunch of Nobodies signed up for this tournament.”

“Now that’s just hurtful,” Hades comments from above, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Your first encounter with these fine gentlemen, and already you’ve resorted to name-calling. I’m shocked, sir, _shocked_!”

“It’s not any worse than Phil letting Heartless sign up for our first tournament,” Azlyn points out.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen this kind before, either,” Telary adds, his staff already drawn. “Be careful until we learn what we’re facing here.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Sora remarks, settling into his battle stance, Keyblade in hand. “Ready guys? Herc, you good?”

“Yeah,” the demigod replies halfheartedly, crouching into his own fight pose. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sora encourages his friend. “Well, alright, not _exactly_ , but I appreciate the attempt.”

“All right everybody, let’s get this show on the road!” Hades’ voice booms out. “On your marks, one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, get ready to…”

“Oh, would you just…!” Azlyn calls up threateningly.

“GO!”

The Nobodies seem to float forward, their bodies flapping as if caught in a stiff wind. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary charge forward themselves, but Hercules hangs back.

The Gambler nearest Sora swings out its arm in a wide sweep, and three playing cards going flying from its empty sleeve. Sora gasps and ducks, falling to his knees and skidding towards the creature. He stops in front of it and stands, slashing upward to cleave it in two. Something impacts against his back hard enough to force him forward, and he turns to see that another Gambler seems to have thrown a die at him.

Telary hurls flame at another Nobody, but a large card pops up in front of the creature to act as a shield. The fire disperses harmlessly against its surface. He rushes to the left and fires again, but the card shield still intercepts.

Which puts Herc in a perfect position to strike at the creature’s exposed back. Telary flashes a glance at the demigod to see if he’ll respond, but he hardly acknowledges the gesture.

The Nobody is advancing now, so Telary decides to toss caution to the wind. “Herc, get it!”

This, at least, seems to snatch up the hero’s attention. He puts his head down and charges, slamming the Gambler to the ground where it explodes into a dozen bright flashes.

Azlyn knocks away three dice with her shield, ducks a card, and hurls her weapon at the Nobody she’s facing. It slides to the side, so she rushes up to it and unleashes a kick that does enough damage to finish it off.

Sora encounters a card shield as well, but the Keyblade proves powerful enough to cut it in two with a single slash. From there it’s a simple step forward and swing, and the last Nobody is down.

“Hey, whaddya know?” Hades unenthusiastically announces from above, sitting on his throne with his chin resting in one hand. “Team Keebler pulls it off.”

Despite the host’s tepid declaration, the arena practically shakes with the voices of a hundred dead.

“Sora, Sora, Sora!” they chant, taking the party quite by surprise.

“Uh, we were here too!” Azlyn calls up to them in protest, angrily glaring at an audience she cannot see.

“How do they know who I am?” Sora asks Herc out of the corner of his mouth, waving awkwardly.

The demigod gives him a tired grin. “Well, Sora, you’re kind of a big deal around here, and not just in the Underworld,” he informs his younger friend. “You beat Cerberus, won the cup last year, fought the hydra. Everybody around knows your name.”

“Really?” Sora asks, feeling a sudden powerful rush of joy. “I’m famous?”

“You’re a hero,” Hercules replies, giving the boy a light push on the shoulder. After the small display of enthusiasm, he slumps again. “Probably a better hero than me.”

“Now, Herc…” Sora begins.

“Okay you, time to get going!” Pain announces, barging into the arena with Panic right behind him. “We got another match coming up in a few minutes!”

“You don’t have to go home,” Panic chimes in, “but you can’t stay here!”

Team Keyblade file out of the arena, passing Ba'Gamnan and his siblings on the way out and exchanging sneers. When they exit the tunnel, they find Phil and Megara waiting for them.

“Not half bad, kids,” Phil says, scratching at his chin. “You kids ain’t the same rookies ya were when I first met ya.”

“It was nothing,” Sora declares with a shrug.

“Herc really helped me out back there,” Telary chimes in, playfully punching at the demigod’s bicep. It hurts his hand just a little. “If he hadn’t taken out that Nobody…”

“Somebody else would’ve gotten it,” Herc says with a shrug, sighing tiredly. “Face it guys, I wasn’t much help in there at all.”

“That’s not true!” Sora protests. “You… I mean you did…. You were very, um…”

“C’mon, Wonderboy,” Megara says to her husband, taking his hand in both of hers. “You’re just a little out of practice, that’s all. You just need to sit for a minute before the next match.”

The trio and Phil watch with sad expressions as the couple walks away to the boats. Phil shakes his head and sighs.

“Man, it’s tough seein’ Herc like this,” he says. “I been doing everything I can to get him motivated again, but nothing seems to work. It’s like he’s forgotten everything I ever said!”

“We’re trying to do what we can,” Sora assures the hero trainer. “But things don’t look to good.”

“You’re telling me,” the satyr agrees, his arms crossed over his pudgy belly. “Even Herc’s merchandise ain’t moving like it used to.”

“Hercules has merchandise?” Azlyn asks, sensing an opportunity in the air.

Phil looks at her like she’s crazy. “What, you mean you guys never visited the coliseum gift shop? Herc insists the whole thing’s unnecessary, but I figure why not give the people what they want?”

“Why not indeed…” Azlyn says quietly, stroking her chin and nodding.

**KH-KH-KH**

The trio make their way back to the Underdrome a few minutes later, eager to see Auron's match. Sora is, of course, the most eager of all, practically bouncing his way up the spectator stands. Azlyn and Telary follow along at a more subdued pace.

Down in the arena, Ba'Gamnan and his siblings are just finishing off another group of Nobodies, Dusks and Creepers leaping about. But the bangaa siblings don’t seem fazed. They’ve separated from each other, and it looks as if four entirely different battles are going on.

“What were you talking to Phil about?” Telary whispers to his girlfriend, leaning slightly into her.

She shrugs, a little too jerkily for it to be normal. “Oh, nothing. Just, y’know, fighting.”

Telary looks at her for a long moment, saying nothing. He knows she’s lying, has plenty of experience with it. But he also concedes that if Phil is involved, it most likely isn’t anything too heinous.

“I hope,” he mutters a she leans away.

Down in the arena, Ba'Gamnan and his family wrap up their battles.

“Looks like this one’s for the lizards!” Hades announces enthusiastically.

“What did you just call us?” Ba'Gamnan indignantly cries out. All of his siblings form up behind him, an angry scowl on every face.

Until Hades snaps his fingers once, unleashing an explosion of flame in the center of the group. Thick black smoke plumes up for a moment, and when it fades all of the bangaa are covered in heavy black soot.

“Whatever the hell I want, my scaly friend,” the god of the dead calmly replies. He twitches his finger once again, and the reptilian thugs make their way towards the arena exit.

“Always nice to see your enemies hitting each other,” Azlyn comments bemusedly. Sora grins back at her, and Telary offers a small nod of concession.

“Well, let’s not waste any time in getting on to the next match!” Hades continues, gleefully rubbing his bony hands together. “We’ve got a real treat for ya here, folks. First up is those fabulous guys in white, the Dusk Avengers!”

True to their name, the team consists of half a dozen Dusk Nobodies, along with a single Gambler. 

“Taking on Auron!”

The man himself strides confidently into the arena, his massive sword gripped casually in one hand.

“Yay, Auron!” Sora cheers, standing up and waving his arms above his head. Azlyn rolls her eyes while Telary claps a bit as well, but refrains from any overt theatrics.

The older man doesn’t acknowledge the boy’ praise, or that of the invisible audience members. He only stares blankly at his opponents. Sora sits back down, awkwardly scratching at his nose.

“Well, I won’t keep you all in suspense,” Hades announces. “Let the match _begin_!”

Auron immediately leaps forward and starts tearing into the Nobodies. Sora and Telary look on in awe as he easily cuts two Dusks down with a single swing of his blade. He twists his hips and slashes again, rending another trio in six separate pieces that immediately disappear.

Only a single Dusk and the Gambler remain, and Auron turns to them with the same fierce look. It doesn’t seem to deter the denizens of Nothingness. The Gambler immediately waves its large empty sleeve, several razor sharp playing cards flying out from it.

Auron plants his feet and twitches his sword through the air in a blur, intercepting every last projectile. The final one he actually manages to angle towards the charging Dusk, cutting through it fatally. That taken care of, he charges forward and quickly dispatches the Gambler.

“Whaddya know, the guy with an actual name beat a bunch of mute cannon fodder!” Hades declares sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “Dreams really do come true in the Hades Cup, don’t they?”

“Yeah, go Auron!” Sora cheers, standing up again. Telary joins him this time, clapping his hands and letting out a small cry of his own. Azlyn just claps, honestly a little bored with how quickly the fight went by.

The old man looks directly up at the trio, expression as smooth and disinterested as ever. Then, just as quickly as he looked, he turns away and begins to stalk out of the arena.

“Okay, I _know_ he heard us that time!” Sora protests, crossing his arms angrily over his chest. “He looked right at us, and didn’t even do that ‘cryptic loner’ nod thing. Guys like that _always_ do the ‘cryptic loner’ nod thing!”

“Well, Sora…” Telary begins.

“I want my nod thing!”

Eventually Azlyn and Telary are able to lead the Keybearer out of the Underdrome. The wizard has to admit that Auron was acting rather strangely, Sora’s rant about a ‘nod thing’ notwithstanding.

“Hey, maybe our next match will make you feel better,” Telary continues to encourage his young friend, leading him over to the bracket board.

“I know violence always helps me!” Azlyn chimes in chipperly.

“Maybe,” Sora concedes, stopping in front of the board. As he reads it, he does in fact begin to perk up. “Well, would you look at that? Our next match is against…”

**KH-KH-KH**

The crowd of unseen undead is cheering so loud that Sora can practically feel the arena floor shaking underneath him.

Or maybe that’s just his opponent charging at him like a crashing meteor.

Sora grits his teeth and steps to the side, turning to land a solid blow on Gijuk’s back. It connects hard enough to reverberate in the Keybearer’s arms, and sends the bangaa crashing to the arena floor.

But Sora has no time to watch, quickly turning to intercepts a swing from Ba'Gamnan. The lizardman’s unique weapon, a long staff with a whirling sawblade mounted on its end, collides with the Keyblade, spitting up sparks.

Ba'Gamnan quickly backs off for another strike, but Sora moves first with a horizontal swing that just barely gets blocked. The pair struggle for a brief moment, and Sora uses it to check on the others.

Gijuk is back on his feet and menacing Hercules again, the demigod halfheartedly blocking blows from the large lizard’s fists. Rinok and Azlyn are, predictably, going at each other without mercy. Telary finds himself fighting a battle at long-range with Bwagi. The bangaa is using a crossbow-like contraption, and Telary’s only chance to fight back is with magic.

But Sora’s duel is enough to keep him busy, and he returns his focus to the bangaa in front of him. Turning the saw aside, he swipes at Ba'Gamnan’s middle, knocking him back a few feet. Sora presses the advantage and strides forward, still swinging.

The bangaa is fast and clever, blocking three strikes before pushing the smooth end of his staff back into Sora’s gut. The Keybearer grunts and jerks back, barely able to knock the soon-following buzzsaw with a one-handed swipe. A kick comes in low, striking almost exactly where the previous blow had been. It knocks the young man even further off his balance, sends him stumbling back.

He looks around quickly, notes the positions of the rest of Team Keyblade: Rinok has Azlyn held down, but the way the muscles of the knight’s back are tensed foretell a coming counterattack. Telary manages to take a step forward, summoning a lightning bolt that knocks Bwagi off just enough to give him an opening.

They both seem busy, and too far away besides. The only one close enough to possibly make a difference is Hercules. The demigod is only a few feet away, grappling with Gijuk in a contest he should be winning easily. But they seem evenly matched, though the bangaa looks to have better leverage.

But Sora is desperate enough to not care, to hope that perhaps his plea will get Herc into motion.

“Hercules!” he calls, swinging the Keyblade wide to block another buzzsaw swipe. “Herc, help!”

The hero hears, instantly snapping his head up to gaze at his endangered friend. Ba'Gamnan advances closer, swings again to keep Sora off-balance, leaving no time to waste. Herc looks back to Gijuk, the burly lizardman straining to push him back. They seem evenly matched, but in reality it shouldn’t even be a contest.

And so, just like that, Hercules decides that it isn’t.

The demigod surges forward with ease, taking two quick steps that utterly blindside his opponent. The bangaa is the one off-balance now, taking a step back and nearly tripping. It’s a huge mistake, and without hesitation Hercules pushes him even harder. The scaly creature falls back and slides, across the arena and right off the edge.

The bangaa’s screams haven’t even died out before Hercules charges again, slamming headfirst into Ba'Gamnan. The lizardman reacts with appropriate surprise, falling to the floor in a pratfall every bit as graceless as his brother’s.

“Thanks, Herc,” Sora says cheerfully, drawing himself up to full height despite the lingering pain he feels. “You really saved my life there.”

There’s no time for further congratulations, with two combatants still active in the fight. Azlyn and Rinok’s brawl is as lively as ever, both of the girls bruised and battered. Rinok slams Azlyn into the arena floor, facefirst, but the knight manages to pull her elbow back into the bangaa’s nose. She cries out and rears back, giving Azlyn enough room to roll over and bring her knee rocketing upwards.

Needless to say, Rinok goes out of commission.

Bwagi hears his sister crying out and looks around, noticing that every member of Team Keyblade is free from other conflicts, and looking directly at him. For once in his life the lizardman makes a wise decision, tossing his weapon to the floor.

“And it looks like Team Keyblade triumphs once again,” Hades announces, somewhat enthusiastic. “They’re gonna be in the finals folks. Facing off against the mighty Auron! That’s coming up in just a few short hours, so you’re gonna want to stick around.”

The bangaa brothers and sister gather together at the edge of the arena, each glaring at their victorious opponents with murderous intensity.

“Oh, whatcha gotta say now?” Azlyn taunts them, throwing back her head and letting loose a triumphant laugh.

“Feh!” Ba'Gamnan declares dismissively. “Arena fightin’ is for suckers. One day we’ll meet up on _our_ terms. Then we’ll see who’s tough!”

They exit quickly, murmuring to themselves. Apparently Gijuk murmurs something offending, as Ba'Gamnan quickly reaches out to smack him across the head.

“Well we’re in the finals, as expected,” Sora says with a confident grin. The gang hop into the ferry back across to the mainland. “Thanks to Herc here.”

The demigod gives a small smile and shrugs. “I was just looking out for my teammate. It’s what anybody would do.”

“What any _hero_ would do?” Telary suggests, nudging his fellow redhead, who just laughs.

“Anyway, we’re in the finals,” Azlyn says, to get the group back on track. “And we’re probably gonna be up against Auron.”

“What makes you say that?” Sora asks, not that he doubts her.

“Well, first of all he’s a supreme badass,” the knight clarifies. “But secondly, and most important, he’s the only person still participating in this tournament that we know.”

The others nod approvingly at her display of logic.

“I still say that something was off about him” Sora announces, frowning. “He’s never seemed like the friendliest guy, but I still can’t believe he’d just ignore me like he did. He’d just talked to us a few hours ago.”

“Maybe we should talk to him about it,” Telary chimes in, pointing to the far end of the cavern. “There he goes now.”

Sora and Azlyn turn to see that the man in question is currently walking down the path towards Hades’ throne room. He seems just as focused and lost in his own world as ever.

“You guys are gonna follow him, right?” Hercules asks, looking from the trio to their target.

“Seems like the appropriate thing to do,” Sora agrees with a shrug.

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary find Auron standing in the middle of one of the Underworld’s many tunnels, obviously waiting for someone. Sora moves towards him, but Azlyn hastily pulls him back behind the cover of a large rock. The trio huddle there together, peeking out to spy on their mysterious friend.

It isn’t long before Hades arrives, his customary thick grey smoke polluting the air around him.

“Right on time,” the Lord of the Dead notes with a leering grin. “Now, first thing’s first: State your crime, prisoner.”

“I exist,” Auron replies, his voice blank without emotion or inflection. “For one such as me, that is the most inexcusable crime. I could not prevent the death of my lord, and yet my spirit lingers.”

“That is some serious stuff,” Hades says with a sigh. “But, hey, I’m a forgiving guy! One little mistake like existing isn’t too much to ask clemency for.” The god crosses his arms and sneers at his minion. “All you gotta do is hold up your end of the bargain.”

Auron nods. “Kill Hercules.”

Sora gasps, loudly. Azlyn winces at the noise and quickly reaches out, clamping her hand over the boy’s mouth. He gives her a disgruntled look, but her only reply is shushing.

“And Keybrats Incorporated,” Hades adds.

Finally Auron shows some emotion, taking a step back and shaking his head firmly. “No, not them. Killing Hercules was what I agreed to, not…”

“Doesn’t that just figure,” Hades declares, his tone put-upon. “I offer you a sweet deal, and this is how I get repaid. Second guessing from a flunkey.” The god places a blue hand on Auron's shoulder. “Time to remind you who’s in charge.”

Hades clenches his fingers around Auron's shoulder, and the man winces in pain as dark energy begins to cover his body. The vile god holds his other hand up, palm flat, and in a burst of smoke a small doll appears. A doll that seems to be the spitting image of Auron himself.

“Let’s see if you’ll listen to me this time,” Hades taunts as the Auron doll begins glowing red. “Kill Hercules _and_ the kids. Right?”

Auron trembles under the pain and pressure. “Yes, Hades.”

That doesn’t seem to quite satisfy the god, who only presses harder. “Uh, _Lord_ Hades, if you please.”

“Lord Hades.”

“Great!” Just as if there was never an issue in the first place, Hades removes his hand from Auron. The man in red immediately returns to his usual relaxed pose. “Now go. You’ve got a match to get prepped for.”

Sora and company sink even deeper into the concealing shadows of their boulder. Auron walks past the silent trio, as passive as ever.

“So Hades is controlling Auron,” Telary says after the man in question is gone. “I think he must have been using that doll.”

“How is that possible?” Azlyn wonders aloud. “Have you ever heard of anything like that, Tel?”

The wizard shakes his head. “No, but Hades _is_ a god. He probably has powers I could never even think of.”

“We should go after Auron,” Sora decides. “Maybe we can help snap him out of it.”

They follow him all the way back to the Underworld entrance, but are only just in time to see the ferry take off for the Underdrome. Auron stands at its prow.

“Crap on a stick!” Azlyn exclaims, kicking at the ground angrily.

“What’s going on guys?’ Herc asks as he approaches the trio. He looks concerned. “Is somethin wrong with your friend Auron?”

“Hades is using some kind of mind control on him,” Sora explains. “He had this doll, we think that’s how he was using it.”

Herc’s pose turns thoughtful. “Y’know, I think I’ve seen something like this from Hades before. I think he must be holding Auron's free will hostage.”

“If it’s in the doll, maybe we could free him by destroying it,” Telary posits. “Without a vessel, it would go right back to its proper place. Theoretically.”

Sora nods approvingly. “Good, we have a plan. Let’s go!”

“Not so fast.”

Hades stands by the group’s side, startling them all. They jump, but everyone manages to recover quickly enough to fix the god with a glare.

“You have a match coming up, remember?” Hades says, shaking his head disapprovingly. “My, what _will_ your fans say when they realize you’ve skipped out on them?”

Sora and Azlyn both open their mouths to deliver harsh words, but Herc steps up to Hades and silences them with a negligent hand gesture.

“How about this,” the demigod declares, puffing up his chest and staring up at his nefarious uncle. “I fight Auron one-on-one, huh?

Hades raises an interested eyebrow. “You will, huh? Very interesting, Hercy Pie. Very interesting indeed. One sec.”

The god turs around and begins muttering to himself, obviously thinking over the implications and angles of this new deal.

“I can keep things draw out while you go look for the statue,” Hercules whispers to Sora. “But I bet Hades’ll be keeping that statue somewhere he thinks it’s safe.”

“Okay, we’ll do it your way,” Hades suddenly announces, turning back to the group. He saunters up to Hercules with a smug look on his face. “But how about we throw in a little extra something, make it interesting?  The winner of your match takes on Keyblade and the Sunshine Band here. Whaddya say?”

“Sounds like it’ll drive the crowd wild,” Hercules replies agreeably. Sora is pleased to note a hint of the old hero swagger in his voice.

“Oh, it will,” Hades says with a chuckle, grinning menacingly. “Believe me, it will.”

**KH-KH-KH**

The trio decide that, all things being considered, the most likely location of Auron's free will is in Hades throne room. They quickly sprint through the caverns of the Underworld, racing against the clock.

“Hades can hold off against Auron, right?” Telary asks as they near the Well of Souls.

“Probably,” Sora answers. “No, what am I saying. Of course he can! At least he seemed better after that last match.”

In the end, their task is almost painfully easy. Auron's statue sits on the edge of the large table in Hades’ chamber.

“He doesn’t even have a safe or anything?” Azlyn scoffs, looking around the room like she’s expecting some unforeseen clever trap or guard. “He doesn’t put in, I dunno, Cerberus’s dog house for safekeeping? Some tin cans and a trip wire?”

“He is one smug god,” Sora recalls, approaching the table. He easily plucks the statue off of the… “Aaaaargh!”

Telary and Azlyn gasp as the Keybearer’s body suddenly becomes covered in red energy, like electricity zapping through his body. They reach out to him instinctively, and the energy leaps off Sora to engulf them as well.

For a long moment the trio just writhe together, bodies tingling painfully. Then, suddenly, it stops.

_“It is not too late. Let us turn back!”_

_“Yes, but I… I cannot accept it.”_

_“Where is the sense in all this?”_

_“There must be another way!”_

_“You must live!”_

“Uh, what?” Sora groggily inquires, scratching at his head. “That voice, did you guys…?”

“I heard it,” Telary confirms with a hesitant nod. “It, it sounded like Auron. He sounded… desperate, and sad.”

Sora shakes his head, filled with a sudden pity. He looks down sadly at the doll in his hands. “He must have had a really tough life.”

“In the end, though,” Azlyn thoughtfully interjects, “that’s probably what made him the surly badass he is today.”

“Adversity does tend to make one stronger.”

The trio barely have time to react to this new and sudden voice before a dark corridor opens on the other side of Hades’ table. Out of it steps a man in the cloak of Organization XIII, hood drawn up.

“And now this Auron's heart is one of the strongest I’ve yet seen,” the Nobody continues to opine, a light accent dancing upon his every word. “Perfect for our purposes.”

“What are you doing her, Nobody?” Sora demands, summoning the Keyblade into his left hand.

“Hades promised me this man’s heart,” the hooded man explains. “In return, I provided fodder for his little games.”

“That explains the Nobodies we fought in all our arena matches,” Telary mutters. He and Azlyn have their weapons drawn now as well.

“Yes, they were such amusing diversions,” the Nobody says approvingly. “Not quite exciting wagers, but they managed to satisfy. Somewhat.”

Light flashes suddenly around Sora and his companions, leaving behind several Dusks and a few Gambler Nobodies. They quickly move to surround the trio.

“We don’t have time for this,” Azlyn murmurs, teeth clenched.

“Trust me, Az, this won’t take long at all,” Sora assures his companion.

And he’s right, but not in the way he might have expected. The familiar sound of smaller dark portals opening fills the room, and suddenly a contingent of Soldiers, Hook Bats, and Rabid Dogs appear. They head straight for the first thing they see, which luckily happens to be the Organization Nobody.

“Um, this is weird,” Telary comments as they all attack him, somehow ignoring the three beings that actually possess hearts. Including the heart of the Keyblade master.

“Well, it’s not what I had in mind,” Sora admits, readying for a retreat, “but I guess I’ll take it!”

As the Organization member summons three giant, razor-edged cards to cut through the creatures of Darkness, the heroes make their escape.

**KH-KH-KH**

Phil stands nervously on the Underdrome sidelines, watching as his star pupil and best friend fights for his life.

The struggle between Hercules and Auron seems more or less evenly matched, both taking and giving ground as necessary, neither one emerging with a clear advantage.

“That’s it, kid,” the satyr murmurs to himself, his hands clenched into tight fists with worry. “That’s how I taught ya, c’mon.”

Hercules dodges a vertical swing from Auron's sword, ducks under a horizontal swipe, and dives in with a punch. He manages to pull it, however, not willing to hurt an unwilling slave as Auron seems to be.

The man in red slides back, but only sees deterred for the barest fraction of a second before charging forward again.

Hades watches it all from his throne on the balcony, Pain and Panic at his feet. Things are going swimmingly, Wonderbreath obviously holding back. But Auron isn’t, pressing every chance for attack he can.

The man in red swings down at Herc once again, and the hero barely raises his hands to catch it before the sharp metal cuts him in half. The block turns into a struggle, Hercules testing his strength against Auron's. Normally it would be no contest, but between his desire to not harm the enslaved man and his weakened state, it ends up anything but effortless.

“C’mon, c’mon…” Hades mutters, leaning forward and gripping the arms of his throne in sweet anticipation.

“Hey, Auron!”

The eyes of everyone in the arena turn to Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, standing at the entrance to the dome. Hades and his retinue sputter in shock, Herc smiles thinly, and the invisible crowd in the stands let out gasps of surprise.

The Keybearer notes the attention, grins debonairly, and holds up Auron's will statue. “I think this belongs to you!” He rears back and tosses the small doll into the air. As it reaches the space above Auron, Telary shoots off a fireball, incinerating it.

Red and silver sparks erupt from the destroyed totem, raining down over Auron. His body glows for a moment, and suddenly his eyes light up with awareness once again. Cognizant of his actions once more, the man in red disengages his struggle with Hercules, backing up several steps.

“What!” Hades screams from his throne, his skin and hair turning a bright shade of red. “No way!”

Auron turns to the viewing deck, looking impassively over the trio. “Sora, Azlyn, Telary. Thank you.”

“Yes!” Sora exclaims, pumping his fist into the air. “Good to have you back Auron.”

“Prisoner!” Hades rages from his balcony. Pain and Panic wisely make the decision to flee. “What happened to our agreement? I can give you what you asked for, but you have to work with me here!”

“Maybe I wasn’t clear when we first met, or perhaps you’ve just forgotten,” Auron declares, glaring up at the Lord of the Dead as if he’s nothing more than a common schoolyard bully, “this is _my_ story, and you aren’t a part of it.”

“Whooo!” Azlyn cheers, hands cupped around her mouth in an impromptu megaphone. “You tell ‘im!”

“That’s it!” A column of fire erupts around Hades, and momentarily a similar column shoots forth from the Underdrome’s battle floor. Hades stands before Auron when it clears, and he doesn’t look happy. Sora and his companions quickly leap over to stand with Auron and Hercules.

“I mostly played by the rules,” Hades continue ranting. “I mean, sure I hoped Herc would bite it, but is that really so wrong. In all other aspects, it was a fair fight.”

“Fair, huh?” Sora questions. “And just what was so ‘fair’ about promising Auron's heart to the Organization?”

“Face it, Hades,” Azlyn quips, “you know fair like Phil knows how to count his words.”

Everyone has a good chuckle about that, even the joke’s target.

“Okay, go ahead and laugh everybody,” Hades accedes, teleporting to another stone peninsula jutting from the Underdrome’s back wall. A monstrous face is carved into the stone there, and suddenly it begins to rise, revealing a green glow behind it. “But I promise you, the laughter is about to stop. After all, Herc, aren’t you wondering why your little wifey seems to have missed out on the festivities?”

Hercules and his friends gasp as the rising door reveals Meg, bound in ropes held by none other than Ba'Gamnan. His siblings stand by his side, all of them sneering.

“Meg!” Hercules cries, stepping forward and reaching out a useless hand.

“You slimy lizards!” Azlyn growls at the bangaa family. “I should’ve known you’d end up working for Hades!”

The Lord of the Dead shrugs while Ba'Gamnan chuckles. “What can I say, these bounty hunters are my kind of scum. Anyway, I told you what would happen if you didn’t compete, Wonderbreath. You lose the girl to my little Well of Souls annex here. Well, can’t say I didn’t warn ya. Drop her, Baggy!”

The lizardman scowls at the nickname, but nevertheless gives Meg a harsh push, shoving her over the platform’s lip and into the well below.

“No!” Herc cries, rushing forward and leaping to the peninsula. He completely ignores Hades, and shoulders every one of the bangaa aside when they attempt to impede him. Resting on the lip of the platform, he takes a deep breath and dives in after his wife. And, funnily enough, the bounty hunting siblings.

Hades poofs back to the arena floor, the door sliding shut behind him. “Looks like Hercules is taking a little time out.” His skin turns red in anticipation of battle.

“You’ve still got us to deal with,” Sora declares, gripping the Keyblade tight. The Disney Castle duo and Auron form up behind him.

“Yeah, okay,” the God of the Underworld chuckles sardonically. “I’m shaking over here, really I am.”

The fight that follows lasts for about two minutes, and all in all it’s simply too embarrassing for our heroes to describe in any detail here.

Sora steps back, gasping for air. This isn’t quite going well. Even Telary’s strongest ice spells and Auron's most ardent cuts can’t hurt Hades on his own turf.

“This isn’t going well at all,” Azlyn understates. “There’s no way we can beat this guy in his own Underworld.”

“That’s right, kiddies,” Hades gloats. “Maybe up in Zeusy’s coliseum you can best me, but not down here!”

The sound of collapsing rubble cuts off Hades’ rant, and everyone turns to see that the stone door covering the well of souls has been reduced to debris. Hercules stands at the lip of the peninsula, Meg safe in his arms. His body glows with a golden light.

“I think maybe a true hero should be able to make a difference!” the demigod declares boldly, easily stepping across the gap to the arena floor.

“WHAT!” Hades screams in rage and frustration.

“I have to thank you, Hades,” Herc says, setting Meg down. He whistles once and Pegasus flies in. Meg scrambles onto his back and they fly to safety. “If you hadn’t put Meg in danger, I’d never have remembered the most important lesson.”

“A true hero is measured by the strength of his heart,” Sora chimes in with a pleased grin. “It’s good to have you back, Herc.”

“Maybe next time you could nix the crazy-ass stunts,” Azlyn quips with a shake of her head.

“Aw, c’mon Azlyn,” Hercules jokes right back. “You know people do crazy things when they’re in love.”

“That’s for sure,” Telary says. Azlyn looks back at him with a pleased grin.

“Oh, this is just _painful_!” Hades yells, enraged beyond the limits of human reasoning. “How dare you get a happy ending? HOW _DARE_ YOU!”

“Hades,” Herc says, sounding vaguely tired and exasperated, “I think we’ve heard enough from you.”

The powered-up demigod waves his hand, summoning a golden sphere of energy. With another negligent flick of his wrist, he sends it hurtling into Hades. It hits the god dead on, his red hue disappearing in a flash of light.

“Oh, hey,” Hades dumbly states, looking over his depowered body in surprise. “That doesn’t seem good.” He looks up to see Hercules advancing toward him, slowly but surely. “Okay, okay Herc. Let’s not blow this out of proportion, y’know? We’re still family, right? Speaking of family, maybe you could sort of, uh, sorta downplay this story when ya tell it to your dad, maybe…”

Hercules stops in front of the babbling god and unleashes his strongest punch yet. Hades goes flying with a startled yelp, falling down into the glowing abyss of the Well of Souls.

“Ooh, he’s not gonna be happy when he gets outta there,” Azlyn comments with a shake of her head.

“Well,” Sora adds, barely concealing a chuckle, “ _if_ he gets outta there.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“So, uh, Auron,” Sora asks the stoic man in red once they return to the Lake of Souls’ main shore, “what are you going to do now that you’re free.”

Auron contemplates that for a long minute, frowning lightly. “I’m not sure. I lived my life defending others. Being a guardian.” He shrugs. “I suppose now I have the time, and the freedom, to shape my own story.”

“That sounds good,” Telary tells him. “Based on the memories we got from your, uh, statue… You really deserve it, Auron.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” He looks the trio over once again, smirking faintly. “I suppose I should thank you.”

Sora shrugs. “Eh, it’s no big deal. We were just being _your_ guardians for a while.”

“If you say so.” Without so much as a ‘see ya around’, Auron turns to walk away. The trio follow him with their eyes, mouths agape.

“Okay , well,” Sora chuckles nervously, “I guess maybe you could thank us a little.”

“We did save you from Heartless-hood,” Azlyn adds.

Auron stops. “You really should say what you mean.” He starts walking again, but over his shoulder he offers, “Thanks for meddling.”

“Um, you’re welcome?” Telary replies, quite miffed at the apparent coldness of Auron's praise. Beside him, Azlyn frowns, and Sora gives a nervous little half-smile.

**KH-KH-KH**

After seeing Auron after, the trio head back to the ruins of the coliseum to meet up with Herc, Meg, and Phil. It’s a clear night, and the stars twinkle brightly overhead.

Herc and Megara stand close to each other, whispering intimately. When Hercules hears the trio’s footsteps, they break off their conversation.

“Thanks for everything guys,” the demigod say, stepping forward to exchange a fist bump with Sora. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“See?” Azlyn declares, shaking her head. “Now _that’s_ how you express gratitude. Excuse us for meddling.”

Herc gives the knight an odd look. “Do I want to know?”

Telary shakes his head, placing a supportive hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder. “No, no you do not.”

“Well, whatever happened, just know that we really are grateful,” Megara affirms, placing and arm around her husband’s back.

“So, what’s next for you guys?” Herc asks. “More daring adventures, foiling evil plots?”

Sora nods. “There’s a lotta places out there that need a hero.”

“ _Junior_ hero, kiddo!”

Everyone turns to see Phil clomping his way across the sandy ground. A small grin brightens up his face. “Though to be honest, if you keep acing every challenge, that junior part just might stick around long. Then who am I gonna train?”

“Are you still telling us that after all that, we’re not True Heroes yet?” Sora grumbles, frowning down at the satyr. “I mean, c’mon already!”

“I personally felt we were ready for the title the first time we saved the entire freaking universe,” Azlyn whisper to Telary, who nods agreeably.

Phil just shrugs. “Hey, it ain’t up to me kids. If it were I’d five ya the upgrade in a heartbeat!”

“Aww, Phil,” Sora practically coos, taking a knee before the old trainer. “You really mean that?”

Phil glares at the Keybearer for a long few seconds, then makes a dismissive noise. “Y’know, on second thought, if that’s are your ‘hero face’, you still got a lotta work left to do!”

“ _Phil_!”

“Uh, Sora,” Meg interrupts suddenly, drawing Sora and the satyr’s attentions.  She’s pointing up at the night sky. “You might wanna take a look at this.”

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary follow her finger up to the stars. Standing together, they smile and gasp as one, gazing up at starry images of themselves high in the sky.


	41. Very Merry Mystery

In his tenure as a savior of the universe, Sora has seen a great deal many things that have shocked him and given him pause. At this point, after mermaids, flying boys, and living computer programs, he thought he’d reached the peak of strangeness.

Until, that is, he happens upon Azlyn reading a book.

“Are you really reading?” he asks her. “Like, a real book?”

The knight rolls her eyes, but doesn’t look up. “Actually I am. I didn’t realize that would be such a shock to you.”

“Well, it is,” he replies bluntly. With Azlyn, it’s best not to mince words. “What’s it about?”

“Mystery novel,” she says, flipping a page. “It’s about the only kind of book I can stand to actually get through. Well, without pictures. Usually I figure out the culprit before the detectives. I have a keen mind, you know.”

Sora’s contemplating his response to that when the sound of humming wafts down the access hatch to the Gummi ship’s cockpit. He stills himself as his ears perk up, listening intently to the tune.

“Um, Sora?” Jiminy calls softly, looking up from the latest writings of his journal. The Keyblade wielder wears an odd look, nostalgic and yet unsure. “Hello there?”

“Huh?” Sora snaps out of whatever reverie he’s in. He looks down at Jiminy with a bewildered expression. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You looked kinda out of it there, son,” the cricket conscience chuckles lightly. “Telary may be a quiet guy normally, but he sure can hum up a storm, eh?”

Sora laughs weakly, scratching at the back of his neck. “Sure, uh, he sure can.” He gives Jiminy a quick apologetic look. “Sorry, I just, uh, I… Could you excuse me for a minute?”

The chronicler’s barely opened his mouth to acquiesce before Sora is already halfway to the updeck ladder. He frowns after the boy, sensing something seriously amiss.

“And I’m the weird one for reading,” Azlyn mutters, flipping another page. She scowls down at it. “No, you idiot, it’s never _actually_ the butler!”

Sora hauls himself up into the cockpit, his shoe’s leather squeaking against the last rung quite loudly. Telary stops his humming and turns to look at the younger boy.

“Hi there, Sora,” he greets cheerfully, spinning around in his seat. “Sorry we aren’t moving along as fast as usual, the computer’s just been acting sort of…”

“What was that song you were just humming?”

The Disney Castle wizard frowns slightly as Sora lowers himself into his usual seat. “Oh, could you hear that all the way down there? Wow, sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“What was it?” Sora interrupts. Telary notes that he’s crouching forward, not slumping back into the chair like normal. His eyes are far more intense than the older man would have expected for such a simple question.

He shrugs, nervously tapping at his knee. “Uh, y’know, I actually don’t know? Uh, it’s just something that I kind of, uh, kind of just start to do around…”

“Christmas,” Sora preemptively answers, thoroughly shocking his friend. “It’s a Christmas song, but you don’t remember the name, or where you learned it. Am I right?”

“Well, uh, yes you are.” The wizard gestures with one hand to the ship computer’s screen. “I was investigating some stuff I thought we could get rid of to speed up the system’s performance and I, uh, came along a calendar program. Said Christmas was in a few days. After that, the song just came to me.”

Sora nods, finally leaning back. His fingers are steepled in his lap. “It used to happen like that, I remember. You’d mention Christmas to Kairi, and it wouldn’t be long before she started up with that song.”

Telary’s mouth slowly opens, incredulous. “Oh, wow.”

“Drove Riku crazy,” Sora chuckles, shaking his head fondly. “He was never really much for Christmas to begin with, thought all the songs were stupid and the decorations were annoying. He _really_ hated Kairi’s song, especially since she could never remember the name.”

“Y’know,” Telary says, smirking, “I guess I should have figured out it was something like that. Something from before. Hollow Bastion.” He shakes his head. “Wow, this is kind of weird. Then again, I guess everything pertaining to your worlds apart lost sibling is odd by definition.”

“Is it really almost Christmas?” Sora asks, letting out a long sigh. He turns to gaze out the bubble of reinforced glass above the cockpit, out into the vast space between worlds. “We’ve been gone for a long time. I guess I always knew that, but…”

Telary nods in agreement. “Holidays have a way of really bringing it up. Thinking about all the people you aren’t going to get to see, all of the traditional things you miss…”

“It would be fine if it were just me, I think,” Sora says. “But Riku’s out there alone somewhere, and Kairi… Oh man, Kairi’ll be spending Christmas captured by the Organization.” He clenches his fists, suddenly angry instead of saddened. But after moment the rage subsides, settling back into melancholy in the span of a breath. “I guess there won’t be much holiday spirit this year, huh?”

Telary, though obviously just as upset a Sora, actually looks a little thoughtful. “Sora?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Christmas Town was part of the same world as Halloween Town,” he says slowly, “or would you guess it was its own world, just with convenient passages to the other holiday towns?”

Sora shrugs, not sure how exactly this is relevant. “I dunno.”

“Well,” the wizard continues thoughtfully, “it wouldn’t hurt to check it out, would it? For, y’know, obvious world safety reasons.”

“I guess not,” Sora agrees. “And besides, it might do us some good to make sure Jack isn’t trying any more crazy stunts.”

“That is an excellent point as well.” Telary swivels around to face the controls, already typing in coordinates and commands. “And if we just happen to pick up some Christmas cheer on the way, well, that would be A-Okay too.”

**KH-KH-KH**

It’s another long, hard night at work for Dr. Finkelstein, Halloween Town’s (and, if you ask him, the universe’s) greatest scientific mind. His motorized wheelchair zips to and fro across the lab, making the final preparations for the ultimate fruition of his dark experiment.

Outside the wind howls, ghosts moan, and the vampire quartet down the street sing a tonally perfect rendition of Monster Mash. But the good doctor ignores all distractions, his well-honed mind completely focused.

The object of his current obsession sits hunched on the metal slab that is the focal point of Finkelstein’s lab. It’s a tall metallic biped, roughly cobbled together from whatever bits and bobs of scrap the doctor could beg, borrow, or steal. Mostly, he stole them of course. Wires run from all over its body to the main generator, awaiting only the perfect dramatic moment for switch-flipping.

“Oh, it’s all coming together now,” the mad doctor chuckles gleefully, settling his wheelchair beside the generator’s main switch. “My greatest creation, the finest moving puppet that ever lived! Once I have brought it online, this creature, unlike that wretched Sally, will never grow defiant. It will live only to serve my bidding! Me, Dr. Finkelstein, the Mistress of all… Er, _Master_ of all Science!”

The doctor’s mad shouts echo throughout the metallic bubble of his lab, and suddenly he snaps to a realization of just what exactly he’s been doing the last minute.

“Oh my,” he sighs, unhinging the top of his cranium to give his brain a good soothing rub. “When this is done, it’ll be nice to get some sleep. A few weeks without it, and here I am, delivering another monologue to no one.”

Unbeknownst to the mad scientist, that statement is hardly true. In the shadows, his secret audience watches.

All the grandeur drained out of him, the doctor heaves another sigh and wraps his gloved fingers around the large switch. It takes quite a bit of effort for his aged arm to pull the old girl down, but he manages. A buzz like a thousand angry bees fills the air, and the lab is bathed in blue light as huge crackling ropes of electricity wrap around the experiment. The lifeless puppet twitches as the voltage sparks and pops.

After a moment Finkelstein attempts to flip the switch back up, only to find one arm insufficient to the task. Scowling, he wraps both hands around the large handle and pushes upward with all his might. It takes a few moments but finally he manages to heave the lever into _off_ position.

Panting heavily, he turns to survey his work. Unfortunately, the puppet sits still, just as unresponsive as before.

“What!” Finkelstein croaks, banging his fist against the generator. He winces at the impact. “Nothing? This is preposterous! How could I have failed again?”

He turns away, disgusted by his failure. Wheeling himself back to his desk, he starts flipping through his notes. Most likely it wasn’t he who erred at all, but those odious little brats he’d been practically forced into accepting as assistants. He’d facetiously promised them the puppet as a playmate once he was finished with its creation, thinking it would ensure their full and untroublesome cooperation. But it seems that such incentive wasn’t sufficient to arrest their basic stupidity.

He’s hard at work on devising a suitable punishment when he hears a noise behind him, a loud _creak_ piercing the air. It grates against his eardrums, and he swivels around in a huff.

When his spin halts, Finkelstein casts his gaze upward, all speech suddenly failing him.

_Crash!!!_

**KH-KH-KH**

Lacking the proper coordinates to Christmas Town, the trio land in the Halloween Town hinterlands. It’s nighttime once again, the perpetually full moon shining down thin yellow light.

“I wonder what Jack’s up to now,” Sora asks curiously, looking back towards the town itself. “Hopefully nothing else involving Christmas.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Azlyn chimes in with a beleaguered sigh. Sora and Telary turn to find her holding up a small box wrapped up in red and white paper, tied together with a red bow.

She gestures to the forest floor, presents of all sizes and colors scattered haphazardly across the clearing.

“Man, does he _ever_ let up?” Sora shakes his head, reaching down to pick up a present. He immediately shakes it, unable to resist the natural urge.

“Maybe you can ask him,” Telary says, gesturing to the forest’s entrance.

Jack walks through the trees to his young friends. He’s carrying several presents in his arms, and wearing the black Chrismaween mock-Santa suit. All in all, it’s rather suspicious.

“Oh, hello friends!” Jack calls, waving enthusiastically with his unburdened arm. “It seems that once again you have managed to arrive at exactly the right time!”

Sora glances from Jack to the scattered presents, then back up to the bundle of packages in the Pumpkin King’s arm. “And what time would that be, exactly?”

“Why, to recover these presents of course!” the skeleton announces, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “With Christmas approaching so soon, Sandy will be ever so grateful to have them back.”

“These presents that you just so happened to find?” Azlyn presses, raising a skeptical eyebrow. She gives him a quick once-over. “Still in your suit, I see.”

“Oh, this?” Jack sounds indignant, sweeping a quick hand over himself. “Well, I just thought that, um… You know, Sally worked very hard to make this. To just discard it, why, that would be callous!”

“And you’re sure Chrismaween is dead?” Telary asks.

Jack nods. “While it was a brilliant idea in and of itself, you and Sandy were able to thoroughly convince me of its unfeasibility in the current market.”

Sora shrugs, relenting for now. “Okay Jack, I believe you. After all, if you stole all of these presents, why would you bring them back to Sandy? I mean, back to Santa.”

“Unless it’s a super-sneaky plan to get back on Santa’s good side,” Azlyn interjects as she and her fellow begin picking up presents. “You steal all this stuff and then bring it back, making you look like a hero.”

“Azlyn…” Telary sighs.

“I’m on to you, Skellington,” she continues.

Once all the presents have been gathered, the quartet hops through the portal to Christmas Town. From there it’s another short journey down Yuletide Hill to the town itself.

In stark contrast to their last visit, the town is fairly buzzing. Elves scurry to and fro everywhere, almost all of them looking panicked. In fact, they hardly seem to notice that newcomers have arrived. Until one of them, a young man, stumbles his way into Jack Skellington’s legs. He falls back, landing in the snow with a soft _crunch_. Looking up, he takes in the Pumpkin King. His focus particularly lingers on the presents in his arms.

“EVERYONE!” the little toymaker cries out with glee. “I FOUND THEM, I FOUND THE PRESENTS! AND THE THIEVES!”

For a long moment all is silent, excepting the light jingling of bells as dozens of elves turn their eyes towards their frantic fellow. Then to Sora, Azlyn, Telary, Jack, and the apparently stolen Christmas gifts.

“Uh oh,” Telary remarks, his voice thin and nervous.

“Relax, Tel,” Sora assures his older friend. “These are elves man. Kind, cheerful folk who…”

“Get them!” yells an elf in the back of the crowd. They all surge forward, descending upon the unfortunately misunderstood heroes in a chaotic wave.

The next thing any of them know, they’re all locked together inside a small square cell. Nobody does a Naughty Corner like Santa.

“No good kids,” the warden, an old, hunched elf clutching a short cane, mutters to himself. Sora thinks he seems vaguely familiar. “I told Santa that this is what this generations ‘me, me, me’ attitude would lead to, told him to stop going so soft, but did he listen? No, no he did not! And that music today, don’t get me started.”

“Uh sir,” Sora says softly, interrupting the old timer’s rant. He looks up at the Keybearer with a look of disgust. “Um, if you could just give us a minute to explain some things…”

“Save it for the big man,” the warden declares holding up a hand. “He’ll be here in a minute to sort you four no-goods out, ya hear!”

As the crotchety elf shuffles away, Sora lets out a sigh and steps backwards to lean against the wall.

“So much for ‘kind, cheerful folk’,” Azlyn says, glaring down at the Keyblade wielder. “Anyone else disturbed by the fact that Santa has a jail cell hidden in his workshop?”

“Do you think these bars are really candy canes?” Telary asks no one in particular, retreating to the analytical side of his mind in the midst of so much stress. “They kind of smell like it…”

“I’m sure that once Santa comes, we’ll be able to offer him up our one hundred percent true explanation of what really happened,” Jack announces cheerily. Even confined in a cell, he’s looking around with the awe and wonder of a child in a candy store.

“Oh, don’t be naïve, skeleton,” Azlyn scoffs, glaring out at the world beyond the possibly peppermint bars. “We were hauled here by an angry mob. We’ve all been shoved into the same small cell deep underground.”

“It was a misunderstanding,” Sora counters. “Once we…”

“It was a frame-up!” the knight interrupts, raising an indignant fist to the air. “Do you really think that it’s just coincidence that those presents were scattered around Halloween Town? Clearly it was made to make Jack look guilty.”

Telary opens and closes his mouth. There’s no way anything he’ll say could make this stop happening. Might as well ride it out.

“Oh my,” the Pumpkin King exclaims, actually losing his pep for once. “This sounds serious!”

“You heard the skeleton,” Azlyn says, waving from Sora to the door. “So get that magic key out and start unlocking buddy. It’s our only chance!”

“You know,” Sora sighs, rising to his feet and moving towards his friend, “there was a time I might have gone along with this. That time is not now. The best thing we can do is wait it out until Santa comes.”

“We’re not gonna get the chance to talk to Santa, haven’t you been listening?” Azlyn shoots back. “In every story I’ve read, the bad guy will always try to whack the guy he framed while he’s in custody.”

“Whack us?” Jack says, teeth chattering. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It won’t be.” With one last dismissive look at Sora, she turns back to the bars. She runs a hand along one, mouth set in a determined snarl. “And without your help, there’s only one way out of here.”

“Okay, c’mon Azlyn,” Telary finally intercedes, anticipating his counterpart’s coming action with his usual accuracy. “Now we’re just getting…”

“Anything you say Azlyn,” Jack declares, shouldering Telary aside to join the knight at the bars. “I don’t wanna get whacked. Who else could plan Halloween? I’m invaluable!”

“Never thought I’d say this,” Azlyn sighs, giving the stink eye to her traitorous cohorts, “but I’m glad to have you on the team, Skellington. Let’s get to work.”

And so, a few minutes later, Santa walks into the Naughty Corner to find Azlyn and Jack Skellington attempting to lick their way out of their cell.

“Uh, we can explain, Santa,” Telary assures the jolly old fellow, his face burning red with embarrassment.

“Oh, I’m looking forward to hearing your explanation,” Santa says with a stern nod of his head. He spares a single quick glance to Azlyn and Jack. “For some things at least. Others, I think, are best left ambiguous.”

“I assure you, Sandy, I had nothing to do with the theft of those presents,” Jack pleads, falling to his knees. “It was a frame-up, I swear!”

Santa gives the Pumpkin King a short once-over, suitably displeased. “Still wearing the outfit, I see.”

“It’s a cool outfit!” the skeleton man protests. “And Sora, Azlyn, and Telary are wearing Christmas themed outfits too!”

“He actually has a point there,” Telary notes, looking himself and his companions over.

“I don’t think Jack did it either, Santa,” Sora adds as a character witness. “We were returning the presents when the elves saw us and there was a little, er, misunderstanding.”

Santa nods. “Very well, I trust your word Sora.” He sighs, shaking his head exasperatedly. “But this is very troubling. We’ve only just been able to get the Presenter-5000 running properly after that mess with Maleficent and Oogie Boogie. With so little time left until I need to deliver… Well, things have been quite stressful around here lately.”

“Do you think the thief might strike again?” Telary asks. “If your present machine can crank out gifts as quick as you say, then maybe he or she will just keep coming.”

Santa grimaces. “You’re right of course. This hooligan, whoever they are, needs to be caught as soon as possible.”

“I can do it Sandy!” jack volunteers, jumping up and down like he’s got an urgent need to use the bathroom. “It may be the only way to clear my good name.”

“If a crime’s been committed, then there’s an investigation to be had,” Azlyn chimes in, smirking at the thought. “I’m in. You might need my experience and expertise.” She pointedly ignores Sora’s snort in the background.

“Well,” Santa says, looking rather nervous, “I suppose if… If you would like to, then I certainly am not in a position to refuse help at the moment. Not when I need all my elves wrapping and making adjustments on the presents.”

“We’re on it, Sandy!” Jack swears solemnly.

“We’ll get this scumbag,” Azlyn adds. “We’ll throw the book at him. Or, the shield, in this case.

“Here we go again,” Telary sighs as Santa unlocks the cell door and slides it open. “Another whirlwind adventure.”

Sora claps his older friend on the shoulder, beaming up at him. “But we’ve never done crime investigating before. At least we’re kinda mixing it up.”

Somehow, that doesn’t really make Telary feel better.

Santa leads them to the storage area where the stolen presents were taken from, near the back of the factory. Along the way, they observe the hustle and bustle of elves hard at work. For the most part they’re too occupied to notice, but a few of the little folk spare a moment to glare at the party.

They finally reach the room after a few minutes, a concrete rectangle of about a hundred square feet. Much of it is filled up with stacks on stacks of wrapped packages of all shapes and sizes, a noticeably large empty space beneath a shattered window marking where the stolen presents must have been nabbed.

The crotchety old elf from the Naughty Corner is there, sweeping away some of the broken glass underneath the shattered window.

“Hey, whoa!” Azlyn calls out immediately upon seeing him. The old elf turns to look at her with a harsh glare. The knight is unfazed, shooting her own venomous glower. She stalks over to him, Jack trailing behind her with his own, far-less imposing scowl. “This is a crime scene, you can’t just…”

“I’m the senior elf in charge of investigations!” the little worker protests. “And seeing as how _I’m_ finished examining the scene…”

“We’re in charge of this investigation now!” Jack corrects him. “Sandy said!”

“You’re a suspect in this…”

“Alright everyone calm down, calm down!” Santa interjects, wading into the argument. He stops between the elf and Azlyn. “Arnold, I’m allowing Jack, Sora, and their friends to take a look at the investigation.”

“He’s a suspect, sir,” Arnold protests, jabbing an accusatory figure. “He was found _in possession_ of…”

“An obvious attempt at framing him,” Azlyn argues. “Anybody with _any_ investigative…”

“I said that’s enough,” Santa interject once again, rapidly losing his patience. “Arnold, you’ve given it your best, but perhaps I would be best if you let a few pairs of fresh eyes look over things, hm?”

“Wait a minute,” Sora suddenly says out of the blue. “Arnold? I remember now, you were the elf who’d lost his Christmas spirit! All you did was complain about kids being selfish, and now you’re all worried about presents?”

“Aha!” Azlyn and Jack simultaneously exclaim, complete with synchronized finger pointing.

The old elf sighs. “Maybe I’m not all that fond of it, but that doesn’t mean I want to see children all over suffering. Nobody could be that cruel.”

“Awww,” Telary croons, pressing his hand to his warmed heart. Azlyn turns to him briefly, practically shooting daggers from her eyes.

“I’m glad you think that Arnie,” Santa says to the old elf, missing how his face scrunches indignantly at the nickname. “Now, why don’t you run along and oversee the Presenter. Make sure things are running smoothly.”

Arnold nods and heads up, though not after engaging in one last bout of glaring at Azlyn.

“He’s a good elf,” Santa declare once he’s gone. “One of my best engineers, a genius mechanic. Got a keen mind. In any case, you’re free to have a look around, see what you find.”

St. Nick takes his leave, and Azlyn immediately begins inspecting the empty area. Jack follows after her like a puppy that’s caught an interesting scent.

“This whole thing is just really disturbing,” Telary comments, surveying the room with his arms crossed tightly against his chest.

“That someone would steal toys from Santa’s workshop?” Sora asks.

The wizard shakes his head. “No, seeing Azlyn and Jack Skellington working together.”

Sora smirks and nod agreeably.

“Now this is very interesting,” Azlyn notes, leaning down over the pieces of glass underneath the shattered window. Thanks to Arnold they’re mostly in one pile, but Azlyn examines it anyway.

“It certainly is,” Jack agrees while Sora and Telary approach. “Um, why exactly is it so interesting?”

“Look at this glass here,” the knight points out, poking at the pile of shards. “There’s not much of it, all things considered.”

“So?” Sora asks. “Arnold did say he was sweeping it up. Maybe he already cleared most of it away.”

“Maybe,” Telary allows, kneeling next to his girlfriend. “But it could also mean that…”

A loud crash sounds from the main factory, drawing the attention of the investigators. Telary stands and begins walking to the room’s door.

“What was that?” the wizard asks, swallowing nervously.

“The thief must be striking again!” Jack declares boldly. “Thieves often return to the scene of the crime, right Azlyn?”

She shrugs, looking disappointed. “Um, I guess so.”

“But why would a thief that snuck in here earlier without anyone seeing suddenly start attacking?” Sora wonders.

“I think that the first thing we should do is find out what exactly is going on out there,” Telary decides for the group. Everyone agrees, and they sneak back into the factory proper.

They pause at the entrance to the main room, Sora slowly poking open the door so they can peer inside.

Nearly a dozen elves stand together, huddling in fear and looking up at something. The quartet follow their gazes to the source of the threat. As they take it in, scowls mar each of their faces.

“Now listen up, you dumb elks!” Lock shouts, brandishing an odd looking red gun with a wide barrel. Shock and Barrel pace across the floor, patrolling the prisoners. Each of them have the same kind of weapon. “If you all wanna have a merry Christmas, you’ll do what we say!”

“Yeah!” Shock and Barrel chime in gleefully.

“I ain’t afraid of you punk kids!” Arnold yells up belligerently, waving a fist in the air. “Nobody comes into Santa’s factory and…”

“Quiet, oldster!” Lock demands, pointing his weapon down at the elderly elf. He squeezes down on the trigger, and the hiding quartet watch in horror as a fuzzy brown teddy bear comes flying out. It strikes Arnold directly on the chest, and he falls down as the other elves gasp in horror.

“Anybody else got anything to say?” Shock demands, brandishing her own gun. “I didn’t think so. Y’know, I thought all you Christmas Town sissies were lame, but these present guns are almost Oogie Boogie kinda fun!”

“Present guns?” Sora whispers. “Why would Santa have anything like that lying around?”

“Probably to make the process of making gifts more efficient,” Telary suggests. “I got a good look at the big present machine last time, and it seems like the process is pretty complex. Most likely it’s for the specific wishes, while the guns are used for the more generic stuff.”

“That’s a surprisingly astute guess for something we’ve only seen for a few seconds,” Jack points out.

Telary shrugs. “I call ‘em like I see ‘em.”

“So, what should we do?” Sora asks, casting an eye over the scene again.

“Well,” Azlyn chimes in, grinning, “as you know, my keen investigative mind is also a tactical one.”

Sora opens his mouth to comment, then decides not to.

“All we need to do is sneak into the ventilation system,” the knight continues, her eyes dancing as she envisions the plan. “We lure one of the kids over to get them alone, then we knock them out and take their gun. Once _we_ have a present gun, we can start picking them off one by one, until…”

“Azlyn,” Telary interrupts. “It’s not that that isn’t a great plan if just one of us were here, say, alone, unarmed, and barefoot, but I think all we really have to do is get out there and fight them. We do have something of a tactical advantage at the moment.”

For a long moment it looks like Azlyn’s going to argue, but decides not to. “Okay, I guess I’ll give you that one. Yippee kay yay!”

Jack is the first one out the door, practically leaping across the factory on his long thin legs. The trio trails behind him, weapons drawn.

“You let those elves go, you miscreants!” Jack announces righteously. “No one steals from Santa on my watch.”

“ _Our_ watch,” Azlyn corrects him as she takes her battle stance.

“Ugh!” Shock whines, stomping her feet like she’s just been told ‘no’ in the checkout line. “Every time we try and have some fun, you show up and ruin it! Well, that’s all over now!” She brandishes her present gun with a flourish. Though thanks to her relative inexperience, she accidentally depresses the trigger midswing, shooting out two candy canes and a doll in a pink dress.

The heroes let out yelps and duck, barely avoiding the goodies that go sailing above their heads.

“Careful with that thing!” Azlyn indignantly exclaims.

“You’ll shoot your eye out!” Telary declares, earning glares from his teammates (minus Jack). “Well, excuse me for caring about child safety!”

“Oh, it isn’t _our_ eyes we have to worry about!” the tiny witch chuckles as she and Barrel take aim.

As the knick knacks and candies begin to fly, Sora dives to the left, rolling onto his shoulder and coming up on his feet. Azlyn ducks right, with Telary close behind. Jack attempts to backpedal, but ends up getting several toys to the chest. He cries out in alarm and falls over, startled but not severely damaged.

Azlyn springs forward towards the fast-firing pranksters, but finds herself limited by a sudden flood of fleeing elves. She ducks right to avoid a candy cane, only to stumble right into a knee-high woman. The impact against her shin momentarily staggers her to the left, smack into the line of fire for two sugarplums and a tiny drum.

Telary throws up a quick shield spell to deflect some projectiles, and Sora quickly leaps over him. The Keybearer smacks away a nutcracker backhand and swings the Keyblade at Barrel in a heavy forward swipe. The mischievous tot yelps in surprise as he’s knocked away, the present gun clattering to the floor.

Sora quickly pivots to block more shots from Shock, who wisely choose the moment to flee. He pursues, the others recovering and coming in after him. He closes the distance rather quickly, reaching out to grab the girl.

His grapple is thwarted as Lock swings in on a line of Christmas lights. The devil boy’s heels impact against Sora’s skull, sending the young hero flying.

With the closest enemy down, Lock turns to the others. Telary and Jack are after him, Azlyn hanging behind for some reason. But the tall duo are easily dealt with. Taking aim at the floor beneath Telary’s next step, Lock shoots out a scattering of marbles. The wizard naturally trips over them, flying backwards into Jack and taking both of them down.

“Got ‘em!” Lock giggles, Shock stepping up to join in his depraved glee. The witch is about to say something when a flurry of toys pile drive into her. The pranksters’ ringleader gasps as he watches his cohort go down.

“Well,” Azlyn gloats, holding Barrel’s dropped launcher in her hand, aimed directly for Lock, “Now _I_ have a machine gun. Ho, ho, ho!”

From there it’s actually a rather simple matter to round the troublemakers up. Santa comes out of his office, looking stern.

“Well now,” he comments imperiously, “it seems you three are intent on yet another year on the Naughty List.”

“Aw, who cares?” Lock says dismissively. “I wouldn’t _want_ anything you gave me. Christmas presents are lame.”

Shock nods agreeably. “They’re not scary or gross at all, so what good are they?”

Jack frowns, puzzled by the statement. “But wait, if you don’t like Christmas presents, then why would you steal the ones from the warehouse?”

“We didn’t steal nothin’!” Barrel protests. “We came here to get parts for the experiment!”

“Experiment?” Sora asks.

Shock nods. “The Doctor said that if we helped him get parts, he’d build us a friend we could boss around.”

“Really,” Jack says, scratching thoughtfully at his chin. “Well, the doctor has been hard at work on _something_ lately.”

“And then when he gave us those fun guns…” Lock begins to say.

“Who gave you those guns?” Santa interrupts, peering down at the children intently.

“The guy in the black coat,” Barrel answers, earning a shocked gasp from everyone. “The one who let us sneak in.”

“A guy in a black coat?” Sora says solemnly, scowling. “So then Organization XIII must be involved with this somehow!”

“Is there anything they _won’t_ stick their hands in?” Azlyn sighs. Then she says, thoughtfully, “On the other hand, this kind of helps with my theory.”

“What theory?” Telary asks.

Azlyn says nothing to him, turning instead to Santa. “You should us the inside of the warehouse, Santa, but not the outside. Was there a lot of glass out in the snow?”

Santa thinks it over, then nods. “As a matter of fact there was, rather large pieces of it too.”

“How does that help?” Jack asks, Sora nodding his agreement.

“There wasn’t really that much broken glass on the inside of the present room,” Azlyn explains. “And if there was more glass outside than inside…”

“Then the glass must have been broken from _inside_ the warehouse!” Telary realizes. “Which I guess means they got into the factory some other way, then broke _out_.”

“But that hardly makes any sense either,” Sora points out. “I mean, if an Organization member can teleport _in_ , why break the window on the way out?”

“Unless he didn’t want the theft to go undetected,” Azlyn adds. “That also explains how the presents got to Halloween Town, which means…”

“I _was_ being framed!” Jack exclaims. He looks down at Santa with a wide grin. “See, Sandy, I told you I didn’t steal those presents!”

“I suppose I was wrong, Jack,” Santa admits, pulling nervously at his beard. “I apologize, of course.”

The Pumpkin King falls to his knees, overjoyed. “Oh, thank you, Sandy! Thank you! You have no idea the mental anguish I was experiencing, knowing that there were doubts in your head about my integrity!”

Azlyn rolls her eyes at Jack, who is now openly weeping at Santa’s feet. “That explains the missing presents, but what was the purpose of letting these three into the factory. Just causing more chaos?”

Any answer is cut off by a sudden cry of alarm from high above. Looking up into the Presenter-5000’s control booth, everyone is shocked to see a man in a standard issue Organization coat, hood up, standing at the controls. In his gloved hand, he holds a small rectangle.

Santa gasps in fright at the sight of it. “That’s the Cheer Chip! It gathers the belief of the children of the universe to power the Presenter! And he’s getting away with it!”

The Organization member stares down at the factory for a second, then turns and takes off running out the booth.

“Hurry, before he gets away!” Sora calls, rushing for the door to Santa’s den and the front office. Azlyn, Telary, and Jack trail after him.

They see the Nobody leap down the stairs from the control booth to Santa’s den, just as they make their way up to it. The cloaked enemy flings himself towards the door, and Azlyn reaches for her shield. The disc whirls through the air low, heading for the Nobody’s leg.

It hits as the mystery man turns into the den, knocking into the limb with an oddly resonant _clang_!

The sound startles Sora, who’s leading the pack. He stumbles, just a little, and the others ram into him. They barely avoid falling, and when they can focus enough to look up they see that the den’s door is shut.

Sora slams into the wood, knocking it straight off its hinges. He and the others pile into the firelit room, but find no one there but Ol’ Arnold, laying back on the couch.

“The guy in black?” Sora asks, huffing out the words with the little breath he has.

“Gone!” the elf proclaims, slamming his fist furiously into the sofa’s arm. “Vanished right into thin air!”

“Of course!” Azlyn snarls, shaking her head.

Santa arrives then, huffing and puffing with cheeks a much darker shade of red than normal. Telary and Sora help him to his chair, explaining the chase’s climax on the way. They go on to outline the basics of Organization XIII as well. By the time they’re done, Arnold has headed back to see what he can do to the Presenter without its main chip.

“So, why do you think these Nobody fellows would want to frame Jack?” Santa asks, fully recovered from his burst of physical activity. “Or stop the Presenter from working?”

Sora shrugs. “Not sure. None of it seems to fit with their usual method of operating.”

“A twist,” Azlyn mutters, shaking her head. When all eyes fall upon her, she explains. “Every good mystery has some kind of big twist at the end, something you didn’t see coming. All we need is one last clue, something to tie everything together…”

“Um, Santa,” a small voice drifts in from the room’s entrance. Everyone turns to see Sally standing in the doorway. What’s _really_ shocking is when Dr. Finkelstein wheels up next to her. “Hello.”

“Sally!” Jack exclaims enthusiastically, grinning like a loon. “And the doctor! My, is this a real treat!”

“It certainly is,” Santa says, sounding wary. “Might I ask what the occasion is?”

“Not a happy one, I’m afraid,” Finkelstein mumbles, rubbing at his cranium. There’s a noticeable dent in it. “Jack, I need your help right away. Earlier tonight, someone entered my lab, knocked me unconscious, and _stole my experiment_!”

“Another theft!” Azlyn declares, sounding excited despite the less-than-pleasant news.

“It was probably the Organization again,” Sora suggests.

“This experiment,” Telary says, “was it the ‘friend’ you promised Lock, Shock, and Barrel?”

Finkelstein shrugs. “In a way. I told them I was making them a friend, but only so they wouldn’t screw anything up on purpose. I was almost finished, too. Why, my moving puppet would have been the most advanced creation of my illustrious career!”

“A moving puppet?” Santa repeats, frowning slightly at the thought.

“But now it’s gone!” The doctor laments, his head falling into his gloved hands. Sally rubs comfortingly at his shoulder.

“Doctor?” Sora asks, cautiously approaching the weeping scientist. “Before you got knocked out, did you see a guy in a black coat?”

“Or white creatures?” Telary adds.

Finkelstein looks up at the Keybearer and wizard, frowning. “A black coat? White creatures? No, nothing like that. My memory of the incident may be somewhat fuzzy, but I’d remember details like that.”

“Then things make even less sense than before!” Sora rages. “Why steal presents, why frame Jack, why…?”

“We’ve got to stop thinking like that,” Azlyn interrupts, drawing all eyes over to her. “With a plot this twisted, we might never figure out the motive on our own.”

“So, what should we do?” Sora asks.

“We need to catch the thief!” Jack answers, his bony fingers clenching into a fist. “Once we’ve nabbed him, it shouldn’t be hard to scare an answer out of him!”

“And how exactly are we gonna do that?” Telary asks.

“Why, all we need is some bait we know he’ll want to pounce on,” Jack declares. “Sandy, could you perhaps spare some presents, if it were for a good cause?”

St. Nick looks taken aback at the suggestion. “Presents as bait? And at a time we can’t even create any more? I don’t know.”

“Please, Santa,” Azlyn asks. She grimaces as she prepares to say the next bit. “Jack’s idea is a good one. All we really know about the thief right now is that he likes presents.”

“And strokes of sheer genius!” Finkelstein butts in.

“If even Azlyn is admitting it’s good, then Jack’s plan could really work,” Sora says. “C’mon, Santa, would you deny a boy on the Nice List?”

Santa leans back in his chair, looking thoughtful. “You know something, I actually think there may be something I can offer you!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Once again, Santa leads Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Jack into his warehouse. This time, however, they go even deeper than before, down corridors that seem to have gone unused for quite some time.

Eventually, they reach a small door set into a nondescript wall. As Santa heaves it open, the sound of rusty hinges grates on the party’s eardrums. They enter a dusty room, much smaller than the one the presents were originally stolen from. There are less boxes here, and all the wrapping paper is faded.

“This is where we store the presents we have to pull at the last minute,” Santa explains. “It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally someone will pull a particularly naughty stunt just before the holiday. Since we’ve already got the gifts made up special, we just store them here.”

“You don’t, like, melt them down?” Telary asks.

Santa looks shocked and horrified. “Of course not! I could never _destroy_ a present. What kind of Santa would that make me?”

Telary sheepishly shrugs, embarrassed.

“These should do just fine, Sandy!” Jack declares, strolling confidently into the room. “Come along Azlyn, let’s find what we need.”

After informing them he has a place for them to set their trap, Santa leaves them to it. Sora and Telary hang back a moment, watching their cohorts pick out ideal bait gifts.

“You know,” Telary says after a moment, drawing Sora’s attention, “even with all the craziness going on, I’ve still been thinking a lot. About Christmas in Hollow Bastion. With Kairi.”

“Yeah?” Sora asks, leaning casually on the doorframe. “Any new, uh, insights?”

Telary’s mouth quirks up in a minuscule grin. “One, actually. When I was about five, she was two. I’m not sure why, but that year I was determined to get her a Christmas present. My grandma and I scoured the town, looking for just the right thing.”

“And?” Sora prompts after a long moment of silence.

The older man shrugs, his face falling. “That’s it, actually. I can’t remember what I ended up finding for her.” A few tears fall from his cheeks, and Sora immediately moves to place comforting hands on his shoulders.

For a minute the wizard says nothing, the tears working their way out of hi system. Once he’s reasonably under control, he turns to Sora and asks, “What was the nicest present you ever gave Kairi?”

The question throws the Keybearer off-balance. Before he can answer, Azlyn and Jack come up to the pair.

“I think we can get everything we need here,” Jack declares. “Well, I suppose there’s one more thing, but it shouldn’t be that hard to get.”

Sora notices that Azlyn is holding something behind her back. He strains to see what it is, frowning once he does.

“Uh, what exactly is that for?” he asks, caution heavy in his voice.

The knight grins. “The coop der grass!”

“It’s pronounced coup de gras,” Telary corrects gently.

Sora looks down again, then back up to his friend’s manic grin. “C’mon, Az, there’s no way. We won’t need…”

“Ya scared, Sora?” Azlyn taunts. “Oh, stop being a baby.” Her grin widens even more. “I double-dare ya!”

Sora rolls his eyes. “Now who’s being the baby? Honestly, Azlyn, I’m not gonna…”

“I _triple-dog-dare_ ya!” the knight declares, drawing gasps of shock from the boys.

Except Jack, who whispers to Telary, “What’s going on?”

“Technically,” Telary explains, “what Azlyn just did there was a bit of an etiquette breach. Normally you follow up a double-dare with triple-dare-ya, _then_ move on to the triple-dog.” He shrugs. “But, Azlyn’s always been a closer.”

Sora growls, but he knows he has no choice. “Fine, you win.”

Azlyn smiles. “Knew I would.”

On their way to Santa’s den, they pass by Arnold at his station in the factory.

“Hello!” Jack cheerfully greets the old elf. “You’ll be happy to know that we’ve finally managed to come up with a way to catch our thief.”

Arnold looks shocked at that. “You mean the fella in the black coat?”

Sora shakes his head. “No, we don’t think it’s him anymore.”

“But the trap we’re gonna set will be irresistible,” Azlyn gloats, beaming proudly. “We’ll get whatever lowlife is behind this yet!”

“I see,” Arnold says, nodding once sharply. “Well, I’ve, er, got to run. You kids have fun now. Be safe!”

Without another word, the elderly elf shuffles away at a faster pace than the quartet has ever seen.

Santa leads them outside and to the eastern reaches of town, stopping in front of two large doors padlocked shut. A gate made out peppermint surrounds them. With a flick of his wrist, Santa unlocks them, revealing a large plaza beyond.

“This should be adequate,” he declares, gesturing to the open space.

“Yeah, should do fine,” Telary concurs.

“You know, Santa,” Jack says, a somehow disturbing smile stretching across his skull, “I’ve just had _another_ wonderful idea!”

“Oh?” Santa asks warily.

“If we catch the thief for you,” the Pumpkin King continues, “well, I’d just be honored to help you out with delivering…”

Sora leaps up, slapping a hand across the skeleton’s mouth. The next words he says are muffled.

“Well, I guess we should get to work,” the Keybearer loudly announces. By now Jack has begun struggling to break free, but thankfully to no avail.

“Yep, got a thief to catch!” Telary picks up. He grabs Jack’s right hand, Azlyn clamps down on his left, and the trio works together to pull the misguided skeleton away from another disaster.

**KH-KH-KH**

All is quiet in Christmas Tree Plaza, an open are surrounded by, of course, pine trees taller than most buildings. Garland strung with blinking lights flows from tree to tree, creating an even brighter atmosphere.

In the middle of it all sits a large pile of presents, dozens of small boxes surrounding a huge gift wrapped in red and white striped paper. A large red bow is tied on top, and a stuffed pink rabbit lays lazily against its side.

“Who’s kicking me?”

“Oh, sorry Azlyn. Nervous habit.”

“Honestly, Tel, you’re shaking like a leaf.”

“Well I’m sorry. I just get a bit nervous when I’m stuffed into a dimly lit space awaiting a master criminal!”

“Patience, friends. All will be revealed soon enough.”

“Yeah, so quite your whining Azlyn.”

“Oh, so now _you_ wanna go, Sora? Bring it on, _then_ you’ll see some real kicking!”

“Ah, isn’t this a great plan!”

The sound of a footstep muffled by snow quiets the bickering group down. Another step follows, stops for a moment, then moves on. It’s strange, but every in between every footfall, a rusty squeaking can be clearly heard.

The heroes wait inside the large present, biding time until they’re reasonably sure the quarry is close enough to strike. Finally they hear a footfall right outside their hiding place. It’s time.

“Gotcha!” Azlyn cries out, pushing open the giant present’s lid. She and her companions spring up, taking in the sight of the thief.

Standing before them is something they never expected: A metallic creature about a head taller than Jack Skellington. Its build is roughly humanoid, but its legs and torso are connected by an elongated skull, there are wheels on its feet, and one arm looks like a vacuum tube. The other has razor sharp blades in place of fingers. It’s all topped with a cylindrical head with pipe cleaner hair jutting out.

But, despite the thief’s strange appearance, everyone immediately recognizes the culprit.

“DR. FINKELSTEIN’S EXPERIMENT!?!?!?” they declare with one voice.

“Um, I knew it all along?” Azlyn hesitantly declares.

There’s no time to call her out on the obvious lie, as the thief strikes. The blade-fingers of its right arm snap out quick as a whip, tipping the group’s box over. The stuffed rabbit slumps forward.

It’s a scramble to clear the hiding place, but everyone just manages to get out in a few seconds. A good thing too, as a moment of sooner someone might have found themselves sliced in two by the _lasers coming from the experiment’s eyes_!!!

“Sometimes,” Jack comments as he and Azlyn scramble away from the beams, “I think the good doctor just goes too far!”

“I’ve gained some small respect for you today, Jack,” Azlyn says, deflecting away another burst of concentrated red light. “So I’m just gonna let that one slide!”

The knight throws her shield, landing a direct hit that turns the experiment’s head around one-hundred eighty degrees. With a momentary respite, Telary shoots a fireball at its torso. The flame impacts harmlessly against the metal.

The wizard feels a sudden pull as the experiment’s vacuum-tube arm goes to work, the suctioning wind powerful enough to lift him off his feet. Once he’s in range, the arm rises to smack Telary down.

That obviously enrages Azlyn, who growls and dives after the metallic puppet. Jack follows along in her wake, but she easily beats him to the enemy. She plants her foot firmly against the thing’s chest, the metal denting with a horrific screech.

The knight flips backwards away, and Jack comes in with his bony claws, doing further damage. But his blows don’t stagger the experiment like Azlyn’s kick, so it has ample focus to sweep its razor arm into him. The Pumpkin King goes flying into a tree, garland falling on top of him.

By now Azlyn has helped Telary to his feet, and they stand together as the puppet advances. It swings an arm down, and the couple dodges to opposite sides. Telary launches another fireball to its side, just to gain the enemy’s attention, then turns and runs.

The experiment pursues, stomping its wheeled feet across the plaza. It’s all according to plan, as Telary points his staff at the ground behind him and unleashes a Blizzaga spell. The ground turns from fluffy snow to a sheet of pure ice. When the puppet’s wheels touch down, it lurches backwards in an almost comical pratfall.

“Yes!” Azlyn cheers from across the square. “All according to plan!”

The experiment flips midair, and suddenly its legs go flying off. To the heroes’ shock, the torso stays hovering the skull that was the creature’s hips having become its head.

Telary winces. “ _Not_ part of the plan!”

The vacuum arm snaps out again, knocking Telary a few feet into the snow. With two enemies felled, there’s just one left to go.

Azlyn recovers her shield and hurls it at the advancing machine, but it shrugs the blow off. When the floating torso reaches her, its razor-tipped arm comes up to lift her into the air. The knight winces as her back hits the pine needles of a Christmas tree. Garland falls from its hanging perch.

“Well,” the blonde girl huffs, looking into the empty sockets of the experiment’s skull-head. “This looks bad.”

The machine has no concept of humor, so only stares placidly.

“Of course,” she muses, her eyes watching something happen in the plaza behind the creature, “like a beautiful box with an ugly sweater inside, looks can be deceiving.” Looking the experiment directly in the eye, she grins triumphantly. “Merry Christmas, you filthy animal!”

Sora, dressed head to toe in one-piece pink bunny footy pajamas, jumps up behind the experiment and swings the Keyblade so hard into its skull that it cracks. The creature goes limp, falling to the plaza floor.

“Well,” Azlyn chuckles, looking over her hilariously-clad friend, “I guess I was right to invoke the triple dog.”

Sora smiles at her, but it quickly fades as he hears footsteps crunching in the snow. Turning to their source, he spies a black-coated man emerging from behind a Christmas tree. Their gazes lock for a moment, then the Nobody begins to run.

Sora turns to follow, but before he can even take a step, Jack calls out. The Keybearer, Azlyn, and Telary’s eyes go to Jack, twirling a rope of garland above his head like a lasso. With a whoop, the skeleton releases his snare.

It flies in a perfect arc, encircling the hooded man. With a tug, Jack pulls him to the ground, tightly secured.

“Looks like there was more to this mystery than we thought,” Telary notes as everyone surrounds the struggling man.

“I see you managed to catch the thief,” Santa says appreciatively as his sleigh descends into the plaza. “And he turned out to be a part of this Organization of yours after all.”

“That may be how it appears,” Azlyn announces, shaking her head incredulously as she approaches the cloaked man and grabs the edge of his hood despite strong physical resistance. “But like I said, there’s _always_ a twist.”

And on that triumphant note, she pulls off the hood to reveal…

“OL’ ARNOLD!” everyone else exclaims, flabbergasted.

The elderly elf grumbles something unintelligible.

“How is this possible?” Santa asks, clearly in utter shock at this betrayal.

“Did you know all along?” Telary asks his girlfriend, more baffled than he’d necessarily like to admit.

The girl shrugs. “I had my suspicions at the beginning, when I found him tampering with the crime scene.”

“I thought you were just being dramatic and paranoid,” Sora admits. Telary reluctantly nods his agreement.

“I know you did,” she practically giggles. “But you were wrong and I was right. _Anyway_ , for a minute I was buying that Organization theory. But then there were a few things that clued me in. First of all, if he was really a Nobody, why not just open a dark portal and escape that way? Then, when I hit his leg with my shield, there was that clang!”

Azlyn reaches down and pulls away the lower half of the coat, revealing two mechanical legs. Arnold’s feet are strapped into the stilts.

“Santa did say Arnold was some kind of great mechanic,” Sora says, staring at the devices.

“And then when he went into the den, the Nobody had apparently finally decided to disappear!” Jack says. “But what really happened was that Arnold was able to use the moment we were locked out to stash his disguise!”

Azlyn nods in agreement.

“But there’s something I don’t get,” Sora speaks up. He shoots a questioning look to the culprit. “Where did you get that coat?”

Arnold scowls. “From a hooded man in a similar getup. He’s the one who introduced me to that hunk of junk over there.”

“You were using it,” Telary says, taking over the exposition for a bit. “Somehow you got it obsessed with presents. You must have thought you’d use the theft to cause chaos, then steal the Cheer Chip!”

Things went wrong. Santa appointed you to investigate the theft out of the blue, which meant you didn’t have time to go for the Cheer Chip. Adding to that was the fact that we showed up too, getting Jack out of the Naughty Corner. With the time crunching, you let Lock, Shock, and Barrel in to make an even _bigger_ distraction. In the confusion of the rescue you slipped away, got into your disguise, and nabbed the Cheer Chip from the control room.”

“Speaking of,” Jack interrupts, reaching down to pick up the chip out of the snow. He dusts it off before handing it to Santa. “This is yours I believe, Sandy.”

“But the biggest question of all,” Santa sighs, pocketing the chip, “is _why_ Arnold?”

The elf snorts derisively. “I should think that’s obvious. Kids these days have lost the true meaning of Christmas, as has darn near everyone else. Even that _thing_ was obsessed with presents! It had all become too much to stand for.”

Santa shakes his head, two elves in security uniforms stepping up to pull Arnold to his feet. “You used to be so full of cheer, Arnold. I’m sorry the world…”

“Aw, screw cheer!” Arnold yells as he’s hauled away. “Screw children, and the holidays! Screw makin’ toys too! I wanted to be a dentist!!!”

Sora, Azlyn, and Telary watch the old elf struggle and scream uselessly, small smiles on their faces at seeing justice done. Of course Azlyn’s is the biggest.

Santa lets out another sigh. “What a sad day, when I have to put elves on the Naughty List.” He turns to Jack, something reluctant in his expression. “It seems that I owe you a great deal, Mr. Skellington.” He gestures to his waiting sleigh. “And, while delivering presents is something only I can do… Perhaps I could give you a small taste of what it’s like.”

Jack opens his mouth and spews forth a noise that defies explanation. He giddily rushes to Santa and warps his arms around his fellow Holiday Lord, spinning him through the air. Then he drops the bearded man and leaps into the sleigh, gripping tightly at the reins.

“Now, now Jack, hold your reindeer.” He waddles up to the sleigh ad pushes Jack along the bench, sliding into the now empty seat and grabbing the reins for himself. He spares a glance at the broke puppet and sighs yet again. “Poor thing. All it ever wanted was a heart.” He turns to the trio. “You three had better go to Halloween Town and inform the doctor of what happened. Then, we can see about a _real_ Christmas surprise.”

Santa snaps the reins and his reindeer take off, pulling the sleigh off the ground behind them. As it flies through the crisp night air, Jack Skellington throws his head back and lets out the most boisterous “Ho, ho, ho,” the trio has ever heard.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Interesting,” Finkelstein says upon hearing the explanation of his missing machine back in Guillotine Square. “It seems I truly outdid myself. The machine ran away on its own!” He turns and wheels away. “Shame about the company it found to keep.”

“Arnold said that it seemed obsessed with presents right when he met it,” Sora recalls, scratching at his chin. “And Santa thought it just wanted a heart. Why would one lead to the other?”

“Maybe,” Sally suggests, stepping closer to the group, “because presents are a way of giving your heart to someone else.”

“Who knows what that Organization member told it before handing it off to Arnold,” Telary adds.

Sora frowns. “When you put it that way, I feel sorta bad for it.”

Azlyn shrugs. “Yeah, but it didn’t care about taking from others to get what it wanted. Just like the Organization, if you ask me.”

“I dunno,” Sora says, his frown deepening. “It was just going off what that Nobody told it. It didn’t really know any other way.”

Any further discussion is curtailed by Jack Skellington dropping right out of the sky. He lands with a flourish, too giddy to even hear everyone else yelp in shock.

“What a ride!” the Pumpkin King declares, throwing his arms in the air.

Sleigh bells fill the air, and everyone looks up to see Santa in his sleigh, gliding across the yellow Halloween Town moon.

“Merry Christmas!” Santa Clause declares as snow begins to fall on the town. “And a Happy Halloween!”

“What a nice present,” Sally says with a smile.

Jack looks at her, confused. “I don’t understand. There’s no box, no ribbon tied in a bow. How can _this_ be a present?”

Azlyn rolls her eyes. “Skellington, you goof. It isn’t the box that matters, it’s what’s inside!”

Sally shakes her head. “No, Azlyn. It’s about the act of _giving_ the gift. Of wishing deep in your heart to make someone else happy, then making the time and effort to do it.”

“You’re right, Sally, of course,” Jack admits, shaking his head as if he’s finally realizing how foolish he’s been. He looks at the patchwork girl before him with a huge smile. “Oh, Sally, you always know just how to make me so very happy.”

Sora chuckles. “Y’know, Jack, maybe that’s Sally’s gift to you.”

The Pumpkin King looks at Sally with love and devotion in his sockets. Stepping forward, he takes her hands in his. “It’s the very best gift that’s ever been given, I think. And I’ve nothing for you!”

Sally shakes her head fondly. “Jack. The nicest present I could ever ask for, is just to be with you.”

Jack smiles right back at her. “You don’t even have to _ask_ for that!”

“So, Tel,” Sora whispers to the wizard as Jack and Sally dance, Azlyn muttering critiques of their technique under her breath. “Remember anything about that gift you gave Kairi yet?”

The redhead shakes his head, shrugging. “No. But you know what, it doesn’t really matter _what_ it was, does it?”

The Keybearer nods in agreement. “Nope. Not if your heart was in it.”

“You never answered my question though,” Telary shoots back with a grin. “What kind of gifts did you give her?”

Sora say nothing for a long moment, his lips pursed. After a bit, a tear falls.

“Hey,” Telary says comfortingly, wrapping an arm around his younger friend. “That doesn’t matter either. Kairi’s like Sally. As long as she can be with you, what else would she need?”

“Here, here,” Azlyn chimes in, stepping up to Telary and kissing his cheek affectionately. “I may get big munny signs in my eyes from time to time, but when it comes down to it baby, all I want for Christmas is you!”

She pulls him away from Sora to begin their own dance, just as heartwarming and affectionate as Jack and Sally’s.

“Someday, Kairi,” Sora mutters to himself as he watches the couples twirl. “Someday, we’ll be together, just like this.” He pulls the thalassa charm out of his pocket and lovingly traces its edge with his finger. “After all, I promised.”

He can practically see it now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone. Thank you all so much for the wonderful, year-round gift that is reading this story!


	42. Wind In Your Sails

“Tortuga,” Sora reads from the sign hanging at the end of the docks he and his companions have just teleported onto. It’s no mean feat, either, considering the multitude of bullet holes and crudely drawn genitals covering the large plank.

“Looks like a fun place,” Azlyn comments dryly, watching from the corner of her eye as some drunken lout pukes into the ocean. “Just the kind of place we’re likely to find Captain Jack Sparrow.”

“He certainly talked about it enough when we were in that cell together,” Telary chimes in as he and the other make their way onto dry land. The streets around them are filled with the chaos of hundreds of drunken men, twisted schemers, and ladies of the night. Gunfire echoes through the air, and public nudity seems to be less than taboo. “According to him, this is paradise for pirates.”

“ _Blind_ pirates, maybe,” Sora comments. “With no sense of smell.”

Azlyn growls, sidestepping two men engaged in an animated swordfight over some woman named Tina. Or it might be a goat.

“I don’t see why we’re looking for that pirate anyway,” she says. “Shouldn’t we be concerned with finding the Keyhole?”

Sora shakes his head. “I told you before we left the ship, Jack’s been sailing the seas of this world his entire life. He’s probably even had more adventures than we have. If anybody knows about the Keyhole around here, it’s him.”

“And,” Azlyn adds with a hint of mocking, “you still think pirates are cool.”

The Keybearer grins at his companion. “I’ll admit I had my moments of doubt, but I dunno, seeing Jack help us out like he did kinda restored my faith, y’know?”

The knight only shakes her head harder. “You really are hopeless, kid.”

“Okay, let’s all focus now,” Telary declares in his schoolteacher voice. “Even if we’re right and Jack is here somewhere, there’s still a lot of ground to cover.” The wizard looks around, fighting his natural urge to recoil at most of the sights he’s seeing. “To find Jack, we’ve got to think like him.”

Azlyn snorts. “I don’t think any of us are drunk enough.”

Sora’s eyes suddenly light up with revelation. He quickly makes his way to the nearest native, a young woman in a ratty pink dress. Her face is painted excessively with makeup, and she looks at the approaching boy with a gleam in her eye.

“Hi there, ma’am,” the Keybearer politely greets her.

“Hello yourself, handsome sailor,” the woman replies with a playful wink. “Anything I can do for you?”

The boy nods, grinning at his idea panning out. “Y’see, ma’am, I’m looking for a friend.”

“I’d imagine you are.” She coyly places a hand on Sora’s shoulder, leaning in closer. “Don’t worry, lad, _I’ll_ be your friend.”

Sora suddenly pales, realizing suddenly _why_ this young woman is standing on this street corner. “Oh, uh no. It’s not like that at all. Um, when I said I was looking for a friend, I mean a friend I already have.”

“Oh,” the lady of the night says with a pout, leaning away from her not-so-prospective John.

“Anyway, I just figured that he’d be at the local, uh, tavern. Would you mind terribly pointing out to me where that is?”

The woman’s lips purse, and she holds out an open hand. “It’ll cost ya.”

Sighing, Sora digs into his pouch and pulls out his munny bag. He grabs a fifty munny piece and hands it to his guide.

The woman inspects it and, once satisfied, stuffs it down the front of her dress. “It’s just down the street, can’t miss it. But, y’know, I’m familiar with many of the folks around here. For a little extra and a name, perhaps I can tell if I’ve seen your friend around lately.”

Sora thinks about it for a second, then decides that he’s okay giving up a little more munny to find the world’s Keyhole. “Sounds reasonable, and I think the guy I’m looking for hangs around here a lot anyway. His name’s Jack Sparrow. Captain Jack Sparrow.”

The lady of the night’s hand stops reaching for Sora’s munny. “Jack Sparrow, ya say? Oh, I know him.”

Sora brightens. “Really?”

“Quite well, I do,” the woman replies with a fond smile. “In fact, next time you see him, could you give him something for me?”

“Sure ma’am!”

_Smack!!!_

“Ow,” Sora moans, rubbing at his sore jaw and cheek. Thin and delicate looking as she was, that woman had a mean swing.

“Paying a prostitute, eh Sora?” Azlyn laughs behind him. Groaning deeper, the Keybearer turns to see his companions standing beside him. “That _is_ thinking like Jack Sparrow!”

“You okay?” Telary asks with his usual concern, examining the younger boy’s red cheek with a grimace.”

“I’m fine,” Sora replies shaking off the pain as best as he can. “Anyway, the tavern isn’t too far from here. I figure that’s where Jack will probably be.”

The trio once again brave the wild streets, and things seem to only get rowdier as they approach the nearest main source of alcohol. About twenty feet out from the building, a two-story structure that seems to also function as an inn, they’re forced to stop as ten mangy dogs pass by in a stampede. For some undiscernible reason, their leader has a ring of keys dangling from its mouth.

The inside of the tavern is less densely populated than the streets outside, but there are still easily three dozen people about, and with everyone packed into a smaller space it all seems that much louder. A group of shoddily attired sailors sway back and forth singing a song of the sea, beer mugs in their hands.

“ _We pillage and plunder, we rifle and loot, drink up me hearties yo ho!_ ”

“A spirited group, aren’t they?” Telary yells over the din.

Azlyn cracks her knuckles, the crackling sound of it unfortunately lost beneath the music. “Yeah well, any one of these lowlifes gets _too_ spirited, and they’ll wish for a plank to walk.”

“How are we supposed to find Jack in all of this?” Sora asks, whipping his head around wildly. “I can hardly hear myself think, let alone…”

“ _We’re rascals and scoundrels, we’re villains and knaves, drink up me hearties yo ho!_ ” a rather familiar voice sings solo, accompanied by stomps and claps from the inebriated chorus.

Sure enough, the trio look up to see Captain Jack Sparrow of the _Black Pearl_ , dancing atop a table with a rum bottle in each hand.

“ _We’re devils and black sheep, we’re really bad eggs, drink up me_ … Zola, me lad!” Having apparently noticed the offworlders, Jack hops off the tabletop with a nimble skip. A grin as wide as a canyon and as hygienic as a urinal spreads across his face.

“Hey Jack!” the Keybearer greets in response. He can’t help but smile at this happy reunion.

“ _Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me!_ ”

That seems to be the end of the song, and after a fierce round of clapping everyone goes back to their business. The unified sounds of song fade out to an incoherent roar of conversation.

“Well, my spiky-haired, key-swinging cabin boy!” Jack continues his greeting, clapping a friendly hand on Sora’s shoulder. He’s obviously fantastically drunk. “To what do I owe this singular pleasure of reunification? Not any more troubles with curses now, eh?”

Sora shakes his head. “Oh, no way captain. We’re just looking for something, thought you might know how to find it.”

“Well, my knowledge of the seven seas is as vast as the, er, seas,” Jack proudly declares. His hand still on Sora’s shoulder, he begins to lead the group over to the bar. “I’d of course be honored to assist in whatever heroic misadventure you’ve currently involved yourself in.”

“For a price, right?” Azlyn cuts in cynically.

“Well now that goes without saying!” Jack agrees with a laugh. “What kind of reputation would I have if it became known I was in the business of just _giving_ away me vast knowledge? In a tough town like this, they’d eat me alive!”

They finally reach the bar, and a burly man in a dirty shirt and vest looks curiously from Jack to the trio. He takes a quick sip from his mug, flecks of foam splashing into his impressive mutton chops.

“Ah, captain!” he amiably greets Jack. “Made some new friends I see. I tell ya, it does me heart good to see such fine young folk in a place of ill repute such as this.”

“Old friends actually, Mr. Gibbs,” Jack informs the man. “You may find it hard to believe, but these three youngsters were in fact instrumental in my reclamation of the _Pearl_.”

Gibbs’ eyes light up. “These are them, eh?” He thrusts out an unwashed hand, and Sora is forced to shake it by virtue of being the closest.

“They are indeed,” Jack says. “Zorna, Ackbar, and Terrarium! Mr. Gibbs here is my new first mate.”

“Nice to meet you,” Telary says cheerfully to Gibbs. “And actually I’m Telary, this is Azlyn, and he’s Sora. Jack has a bit of a hard time remembering our names, it seems.”

“Apparently they are now in need of _my_ assistance!” Jack gloats. “What an interesting reversal of fortunes.”

Gibbs nods. “Speaking of fortunes captain, are they…?”

“I guess we can pay you if we have to,” Sora sighs, ignoring how the words nearly send Azlyn into a fit. “I mean, usually friendship and loyalty do the trick, but…”

Anything else the boy could say is drowned out by the pirates’ (and Azlyn’s) laughter.

“Oh, Sora,” Jack says after a moment, wiping a tear from his eye with one hand and thumping the boy’s back with the other, “I’d forgotten how funny you could be!”

The sound of doors being kicked open suddenly intrudes on the merry cacophony, and silence gradually falls as everyone turns to the source of the noise. Much to the shock of all, four men in red coats stand in the taverns’ doorway. Each carries a rifle.

“Oh, bugger,” Jack mutters under his breath. “Not all this business again…”

The troops part to allow a familiar face inside the bar. James Norrington, immaculately dressed as ever in his blue officer’s coat, surveys the bar.

Jack immediately dives to the floor, pulling Sora down with him. Sora reaches out as he falls and grabs Telary, who grabs Azlyn on his way down. Once out of sight, they begin to follow Jack to a side exit.

“Good evening, gentlemen and… hm ladies,” Norrington addresses the crowd in his posh, effortlessly pretentious accent. “I hate to disrupt your disorderly revelry, but I’m looking for someone specific here this evening. A certain Mister Jack Sparrow.”

Jack stops crawling suddenly, looking back in Norrington’s direction indignantly. He opens his mouth to correct the commodore, but luckily Sora reaches out and slaps a hand over it before he can give away their position. They’re almost to the side exit now, and the last thing they need is…

The crowd immediately parts, revealing their location and providing a clear corridor to the soldiers.

“Wow,” Azlyn says, eyeing the tavern’s patrons. “No honor among thieves I guess.”

As he realizes that his quarry has company, Norrington smiles. “Well, this is certainly fortuitous. I come here looking for Jack Sparrow…”

“ _Captain_ Jack Sparrow!” the pirate protests, shoving Sora’s hand away from his mouth.

The commodore rolls his eyes. “And who do I also happen to find but his three little crewmates. All in all, this seems a rather good night for me. Men, apprehend them.”

Norrington steps back and nods his men forward. The redcoats advance cautiously, their rifles poised to fire if anyone gets any ideas.

“Anybody got any ideas?” Sora whispers to the group. “Azlyn, could you block all their shots if we ran for it?”

The knight thinks it over, her mouth twisting into a grimace. “Maybe, but only if we all stuck really close together. A better idea would be for _somebody_ to toss out a fireball.”

Telary frowns at his girlfriend. “Azlyn, you know I wouldn’t do that! These guys are just enforcing the law, doing their jobs.”

As it turns out, there’s no need for action on the trapped quartet’s part at all. Just as the soldiers are about to reach them, Gibbs comes stumbling out of the crowd. He blunders into the soldiers rifles, faking severe drunkenness. With their weapons turned to the side, Sora and his band have a perfect opportunity to flee.

They leap to their feet and charge headlong at the side door, only to find their route cut off when two more redcoats step into the doorway.  The bayonets of their rifles gleam in the lamplight.

Luckily, Azlyn was prepared for this eventuality, and without missing a step she hurls her shield. The metal disc slams into the soldiers, knocking them off the back steps to land in a heap.

“After them!” they hear Norrington call out into the night. “Do _not_ let them escape!”

A soldier inside the tavern reaches the door and raises his rifle, firing a single shot after the fleeing group. Luckily muskets are not the most accurate of weapons, and the shot goes high and wide.

They flee down an alley, passing by a few drunk sailors and saucy wenches.

“Okay, we got out of there,” Telary says between puffs of breath. “What’s the plan now?”

“Make for the _Pearl_ ,” Jack instructs. “Gibbs’ll have it ready for us by the time we get there. Provided he wasn’t shot on the spot by the good commodore.”

“It might be best if we split up,” Sora suggests. “It’ll be harder to find two of us than four.”

“Agreed,” Azlyn says with a nod. “I’ll take Telary, and you and Jack can…”

The knight is cut off by the sudden sound of gasps along the alleyway. Looking ahead, the quartet spots a cadre of soldiers at the end of the alley, their rifles aimed.

There’s no more time for discussion, and instead everyone just leaps through the nearest doorway. Azlyn and Sora go right, and Jack and Telary go left. The iron musket balls miss them by only inches.

Looking around, Telary can see that he and Jack’s refuge is some kind of pig pen. And unfortunately within a moment he can _smell_ it as well. A huge black sow takes one look and them and squeals impassively.

“Ugh,” the wizard nearly gags, reaching for Jack’s arm. “C’mon, Captain, we should get outta here.”

“Hold up there mate,” Jack argues, pulling the redhead right back. “I’ve another idea, but I doubt you’ll like it.”

Before Telary even has the chance to ask, Jack tugs him back into a shadowy corner. Something splashes on the wizard’s shoes, and he tries valiantly not to think about it.

Not a moment after the pair is under the cover of darkness, three soldiers rush into the sty. They don’t even bother to look around, simply barreling across the floor and through the main entrance.

“Well,” Jack chuckles as he and Telary emerge from the foul-smelling darkness, “it seems that once again, my fantastic brain has not failed me!”

“Ugh, Jack,” Telary wheezes, still trying his damndest not to breath in. “How can you stand to live like this? Always on the run from the law, no real home…”

“Now hang on a minute, lad,” Jack interrupts. “I most certainly have a home. It’s the _Pearl_ , savvy? As for the rest…” He reaches into a pocket and produces a tarnished flask. “There’s always this, eh?” He holds the liquor out to Telary. “Here, why not have a swig, take the edge off!”

Telary eyes the flask suspiciously. “Uh, gee Jack, I don’t know…”

“C’mon, just a teensy little drink,” the pirate urges in his best coercion voice. “It’s not even that strong. Honest.”

“Well,” the wizard relents after a moment, gingerly reaching out to grab the flask, “I suppose one sip couldn’t hurt, right?”

Jack flashes him a grin. “Ain’t never hurt me none, mate.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Azlyn dodges a bullet from one of her and Sora’s pursuers, the metal ball zipping through the gap between the pair. Looking over her shoulder, she sees a scowl of frustration on the officer’s face.

“I think they’re out of bullets,” she calls to her running companion. “All we have to do now is find someplace to lose ‘em.”

“I’m open to suggestions!” Sora replies, leaping over an overturned barrel. He looks around for some way to help, but in the end it’s what he _hears_ that makes the difference.

Putting on a quick burst of extra speed to give him distance, Sora rushes towards a man sitting in the back of a cart, chowing down on a chicken leg. He jumps as he rushes past and nabs the bone right out of the man’s hand. Tightening his grip on it, he once again listens for the sound of salvation.

He hears it, a rough chorus of barks and squeaks. Moments later, the Tortuga mutt procession bursts forth from an alley. The leader raises its head and sniffs, turning to lock eyes on the bone in Sora’s hand. Behind him, the others follow suit.

“Ya see the nice bone, huh?” Sora calls encouragingly to the mongrels. “You want it, don’t ya? Well, go get it!”

Twisting his torso, Sora tosses the bone out behind him, directly at the pursuing soldiers. Excited by the prospect of a chase and reward, the dogs surge forward after it. Sora and Azlyn widen the gap between them, and the dogs race through to pounce for the bone.

And the soldiers.

Azlyn and Sora quickly turn into an alley, then head down another street, duck into a shorter alley, and vault over a brick wall. Convinced that their pursuers won’t be able to catch their trail, the pair stop for a rest.

“You know, this is the second time you and I have had to run from the cops in a few weeks,” Sora points out, grinning playfully at his partner.

Azlyn scowls back at him. “Hey, this time it isn’t my fault, okay? It’s that lowlife Jack Sparrow.”

Sora quirks an eyebrow at her. “I’d have thought you’d be impressed by his dedication to munnymaking, Az.”

“Oh, I admire him from a purely business point of view,” the knight agrees with a shrug. “I just don’t trust him to put us before what he wants. And I _really_ don’t like the thought of leaving Telary alone with him.”

Sora nods. “Yeah, we should find a way to meet up.”

“How?”

Another shrug. “There wasn’t really much opportunity to set up a meeting point. I guess we should just head back to the docks, try and find the _Pearl_. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a ship with black sails.”

Azlyn frowns again. “How much do you wanna bet Norrington is thinking the same thing?”

Sora makes a noise of agreement, and the pair quickly head off in the direction of the docks. It takes a few minutes to get to the area, and they climb atop the roof of a small shop to get a good look. Sure enough, half a dozen soldiers mill around outside the marina’s entrance.

“I don’t see Norrington,” Sora points out. “He’s probably still chasing Jack, which is a good sign.”

“No black sails either,” Azlyn adds. “Probably they’re disguised. I guess Jack’s not as dumb as he looks.”

“Well of _course_ I’m not, love.”

The voice startles Azlyn and Sora, but they relax once they see it’s only Jack Sparrow, poking his head up from below.

“Good, you got away,” Sora sighs in relief.

“Where’s Tel?” Azlyn demands, angrily pursing her lips and the captain.

Jack twitches his head toward the ground. “Down here, lass. And don’t worry, he’s fine! Not a scratch on him. Externally, he’s the picture of health.”

Something about the pirate’s phrasing bothers Azlyn, and she quickly slides off the roof and into the small alley behind the shop. She spots Telary immediately, kneeling beside something his body blocks her view of.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to see you again,” the wizard is saying, his tone light and bouncy. “I just wonder how you… Azlyn!”

Telary twists his body towards his girlfriend, his eyes lighting up at the sight of her like they never have before. His mouth stretches into a buoyant grin, and she still can’t see what’s behind him.

“You’ll never guess who I found!” the redhead continues, standing up and gesturing sweepingly with his right hand. “It’s Master Donald!”

The hen Telary is pointing to clucks softly, ruffling her feathers.

Azlyn whirls on Jack, fire blazing in her eyes. “What the hell did you do to him?”

The pirate shrugs sheepishly. “Well, your boy there was a regular bundle of nerves he was! Obviously no experience running from Johnny Law, that one. All I did was offer him a little liquid courage, just a bit of a pick-me-up. I thought it would relax him.”

Azlyn looks back at Telary, who’s frowning at the now-rapidly clucking chicken. “Calm down, Donald. You know I can’t understand you when you get like this!”

“He looks plenty relaxed to me!” Azlyn roars, surging forward to grab Jack. Gripping the lapels of his shirt in both hands, she hauls him up against the wall. His feet dangle inches above the ground.

“Then I’d say I’ve done my job with aplomb, savvy?” Jack chokes out, smiling thinly.

“Okay, that’s enough Azlyn,” Sora declares stepping in and grabbing the knight’s arms. With a grunt of effort, her forces her to lower Jack back to the ground. “You can beat Jack up later if you want, but right now we have to deal with those soldiers, okay?”

Azlyn lets out a last low growl and releases her captive, taking a few steps back. “Well, maybe the good captain here can offer them some drinks.”

Jack frowns. “Afraid I haven’t got enough to go around, lass. Besides, what kind of pirate would I be, sharing me rum with the law?”

The sober trio continue their tactical discussion, and for a while Telary watches patiently. Then, he hears a voice from below.

“Telary!” Master Donald declares in his usual boisterous speech. When Telary looks down at him, the mallard magician is giving him a grin. “You and I both know the best way to deal with those mooks is with a little magic!”

Telary frowns, thinking. What the duck is saying is logical. He’s a powerful wizard, and it’s likely the soldiers have nothing in their arsenal to counter his awesome powers. But something still nags at the back of his mind, telling him that this isn’t such a good idea.

But there’s no time for doubts now, as Donald lets out a squawking battle cry and rushes out of the alleyway, staff held high. Telary nods and follows suit, pulling his own staff from its perch and racing after his former master.

Of course, when viewed with sober eyes, it just looks like a wasted fool making a madcap dash after distraught poultry.

Azlyn gasps and immediately pursues, whisper-yelling for her boyfriend to regain his senses and get back in the alleyway. But in all the excitement she fails to check her footing, and ends up slipping on a patch of rum-soaked mud. Sora, rushing along right behind her, grunts as his companion barrels into his legs, knocking him to the ground as well.

The soldiers standing around the dock entrance look up, startled at the sound of a wailing cry. The sight before them, a tall man chasing after a hen and waving an odd stick in the air, gives them a moment’s pause. No training can prepare a man for this.

“Oh, good,” one of the men sighs, amusement dripping from every word. “Another drunk fool. Okay, lads, you know the drill…”

The drill, as it happens, does not include bolts of lightning falling suddenly from the sky. They fall in the midst of the redcoat posse, disrupting their line and leaving a sizeable gap.

“I’m wizard!” Telary declares with a devil-may-care laugh. “Hear me roar!” He charges straight across the open ground, knocking one soldier into two others completely on accident.

“Behold!” Jack declares as he emerges from the alley, a mud-splattered Azlyn and Sora behind him. “The awesome power of rum! And some other stuff.” The captain knocks back a quick drink, draws his sword, and charges into the open.

After a moment’s pause to exchange exasperated looks, Azlyn and Sora rush along behind him. By now the soldiers are so surprised and disoriented as to be nearly useless, and it’s an easy matter for the group to get past them and to the docks.

Telary still hasn’t stopped, too caught up in his charge to think straight. Azlyn notices that he’s headed right for the edge of a long pier. Scowling again, she hurls her shield to the wooden walkway below her and jumps on, skidding across the boards with twice the speed of a normal sprint. She skirts past Jack and continues, just barely catching up with her inebriated boyfriend before he leaps into the water. She twists her hips to get the shield whirling, and carefully knocks it into the back of Telary’s legs. He lets out a yelp and goes down, only inches away from the pier’s edge.

Back towards the docks’ entrance, Sora raises his Keyblade and summons a Reflect spell, bullets bouncing of the magical barrier. Through it he spots Norrington and a quartet of soldiers, striding imperiously towards the fleeing criminals.

“Jack!” the boy calls back to Captain Sparrow. “Which one of these ships is the _Pearl_?”

Jack’s face scrunches up in thought.

“Oh, _c’mon_!” Sora yells exasperatedly. The soldiers are approaching him now, bayonets gleaming in the light of the moon.

“This way!” Jack announces, rushing off in an easterly direction. Azlyn and Telary have joined him by now, and they follow.

“Donald!” Telary cries into the night, thrashing distraughtly in his girlfriend’s grip. “Azlyn, where’d Master Donald go?”

“We’re going on a cruise now, Telary,” she explains, tugging him along sharply. “A fun trip across the ocean!”

Telary frowns. “Are those guys in the red coats invited? ‘Cause I don’t like them very much.”

The group continues to flee, Sora bringing up the rear and keeping an eye on the ever-advancing soldiers. It seems some of them have had time to reload, and he’s forced to pull up another blocking spell. Once it drops he hears another sharp _crack_ of gunfire, and he barely raises the Keyblade fast enough to knock the bullet away. Looking back, Sora can see Norrington has his pistol raised.

Jack leads the way to the _Black Pearl_ , the white disguise sails snapping in the wind and offering momentary glimpses of the black cloth behind. Scruffy looking men rush to and fro, both on deck and in the rigging above.

“Mr. Gibbs, are we prepared to weigh anchor?” the captain calls up to his mate.

“Aye, cap’n!” Gibbs replies from atop the gangplank. “The oarsmen are ready to row at your word!”

Jack races up the plank, turning to watch Azlyn and Telary come after. Sora is still several feet away, and the soldiers only a yard or so behind him.

“Cutting it close, Jack,” Gibb cautions his old friend.

Jack shrugs. “When have I ever not, dear Mr. Gibbs?”

The _Pearl_ is pulling away from its pier now, and Sora still has several feet to cover. Looking up, he sees Azlyn reaching over the railing, Telary’s staff gripped tightly in her hand.

“Jump!” she yells.

It seems insane, but Sora knows that he’s made more impossible maneuvers before and pulled them off. Turning his back on the soldiers, he starts an all-out sprint for the dock’s end. At the last possible moment he leaps up and forward, desperately grasping at the staff above him. Azlyn leans a few more inches and the Keybearer just barely manages to get a grip.

Bracing his feet on the side of the ship, he pushes up as Azlyn pulls. The strain is almost too great, until suddenly Azlyn feels arms wrap around her torso. They lend her an extra bit of strength, and Sora is able to clamber over the railing.

After a moment, Azlyn realizes that the arms around her aren’t letting go. Craning her neck, she sees the smiling face of Pintel, former cursed mutineer and current “loyal” deckhand.

“‘Ello, poppet!” he greets her cheerily. She grunts and decks him in the mouth.

“Bye guys!” Telary calls back to Norrington and his frustrated band back on the docks. They’re loading up their rifles again, but they know it won’t really do them any good. They’ve lost. “I’ll write you a postcard.” Grinning like a loon, he turns to Sora. “So, what time does shuffleboard start?”

**KH-KH-KH**

Norrington says nothing as he watches the _Black Pearl_ carry his quarry away, only scowls after it.

He turns back to his men, who have already formed up into orderly ranks. They stare blankly at their commanding officer, expressions carefully trained away.

“A valiant effort, men,” he says in a neutral voice. “Luck was with the enemy today, but we may yet have it next time.”

“Now there’s the proper attitude, Commodore,” an unfamiliar voice suddenly cuts through the quiet docks. The soldiers part and reveal a man in a black cloak, hood raised to obscure his features. “Truly the cards fall where they may.”

“Who,” Norrington demands, one hand on his sword, “are you?”

The cloaked man raises his hands to his hood and pushes it down, revealing the gaunt face of a man in his early thirties. His blond hair is close-cropped and spiked, and a matching golden goatee surrounds his mouth. Three silver hoop earrings curl along the shell of his left ear, with another in a shape unfamiliar to Norrington dangles from his lobe.

“My name is Luxord,” the man announces, grinning like someone watching a mildly amusing play. “And I am just the man you need, Commodore Norrington, if you wish to ever end your game with Jack Sparrow.”

The soldier regards Luxord skeptically. “Really? And how, may I ask, are you going to do that?”

The cloaked man smiles, raising a gloved hand. “I’m so very glad you inquired.” His fingers snap, and suddenly several Armored Knight Heartless appear around him.

The soldiers gasp and step back, raising their rifles. Norrington frowns at the display. “What are you playing at? I’ve seen creatures such as these before. They attacked Port Royal along with the former crewmen of the _Black Pearl_. By all accounts, I should want nothing to do with them. They are evil.”

Luxord’s face folds into a frown to match Norrington’s own. “I would hardly agree with that cynical assessment, Commodore. The Heartless are merely tools, eager to serve the strongest they can find. In Barbossa’s hands, yes, they were agents of malevolence.” The frown reverses itself into a smug grin. “But surely under your guidance they could do great justice.”

Norrington still looks skeptical, but steps through the line of his soldiers towards Luxord. “And what makes you think I have need of any more tools than I already possess?”

“Because you’ve seen the dark arts Captain Sparrow’s allies have at their command,” the Nobody replies. “With the power of the Heartless at your side, you could counter any mystic act they may employ. You could have Jack Sparrow locked in your brig before night’s end. Surely you are eager for this chase to cease. I understand your fiancée awaits you in Port Royal. Such a shame, to keep having to postpone your nuptials because of the fiendish Jack Sparrow.”

Norrington takes a moment to consider the offer before him, make his decision. But Luxord hardly needs to wait for the words to come from his mouth. He can already tell the Commodore’s answer in the way he blinks, the slight purse of his lips.

It’s one of the weaknesses of the heart, after all. Everyone has a Tell.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Well,” Jack announces cheerily as the _Black Pearl_ clears Tortuga’s harbor. “That was rather an impressive bit of daring-do, wasn’t it? Never tell anyone I don’t show you the occasional good time, Mr. Gibbs.”

“Aye, Captain,” the beleaguered first mate agrees, rubbing at his forehead.

“Okay, Jack,” Sora interrupts, making his way over to the captain with Azlyn at his side. Telary stands by a very short man named Marty, asking for directions to the Lido deck. “We got you out of your spot with Norrington. I’d say you owe us something in return.”

Jack nods once. “As a matter of fact, I believe you’re right. One good turn deserves another, I always say. Don’t I, Gibbs?”

“Aye, sir,” the man replies. It’s almost automatic at this point.

“So, what is it your little hearts desire, eh?”

“We’re looking for something called the Keyhole,” Sora explains. “The why and what and all that is kinda complicated, but basically we need to find it or things could get really ugly.”

Jack quirks an eyebrow. “Cursed treasure pirate mutiny ugly?”

“Worse.”

Jack turns to his first mate. “Oy, Mr. Gibbs. You ever heard of such a thing called a Keyhole?”

Gibbs mulls it over a moment, scratching idly at his muttonchops. “Can’t say as I have, Captain. And I’ve seen and heard quite a bit in my years. Quite a bit indeed.”

Frustrated, Azlyn steps forward and opens her mouth to say something. But before she can, an instantly familiar screech echoes through the night air. The Disney Castle knight’s words turn into a shocked gasp as she looks up just in time to see a skeletal monkey plunging through the air. It lands before her and screeches again.

Telary winces at the noise. “Oh, man. Is it karaoke night already?”

“What the hell?” Azlyn exclaims, whipping out her shield and warily eyeing Jack the monkey, formerly of Hector Barbossa’s cursed crew. “What is that thing doing on the ship?”

Jack shrugs. “He just showed up outta the blue. And I figured, hey, if Hector can have himself an undead monkey, why can’t I too?”

The skeletal capuchin hisses once more at Azlyn, then bounds away and up into the rigging. The knight watches him all the while, scowling.

“You know,” Jack declares suddenly, his eyes lighting up with an idea, “it occurs to me that you’ve not had the chance to acquaint yourself with my new mates. Come along then, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” He frowns. “Well, everybody I can remember anyway.”

Wrapping amiable arms around Sora and Azlyn’s shoulder, the _Pearl_ ’s captain leads the around the deck.

“This here is Marty,” he declares, stopping in front of a man only about as tall as Azlyn’s knee. “You ever hear about a Keyhole, mate?”

Marty shakes his head. “Afraid not captain.”

“That’s disappointing. And here I thought you always kept your ear close to the ground. Ha! One of our amusing little jokes, that is.”

“Hilarious,” Marty replies with a roll of his eyes.

Next Jack leads them to an interesting looking man with a green parrot perched atop his shoulder. “This here is Mr. Cotton, and his parrot.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sora greets the man with a small nod. He gets only a stare in reply. “Um, hello?”

“Oh, don’t mind him,” Jack explains. “He’s without a tongue, y’see.”

As if to prove the captain’s words true, Cotton opens his mouth wide. Sora nearly gags at the sight.

“Trained the bird here to speak for him,” Jack continues unabated.

“How did he do that?” Azlyn asks skeptically.

The captain shrugs. “Not quite sure. Oy, bird. You know anything about this here Keyhole?”

“Rawwk!” the green bird shrieks, startling Sora and Azlyn. “Wind in your sails!” Having apparently said his piece, he ascends to the rigging above.

Sora notices a puzzled look on Jack’s face. “What is it, Captain?”

“Well, as far as we’ve figured, that means yes,” he answers, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Might have to have a conversation about that later.”

Azlyn shakes her head. “Ugh, no thanks. Talking parrots are _really_ not my thing.”

“And we know those two,” Sora says, gesturing to Pintel and Ragetti checking a line.

“Really?” Jack says, frowning at the odd pair. “Not sure I do. Ah well, it takes all kinds. Say, there’s Onion Joe! Let’s say hello!”

Azlyn slips away from Jack, letting him lead Sora over to meet still more members of the _Black Pearl_ ’s crew. Not feeling the need, she goes to look for Telary.

She finds him sitting on a crate near the starboard rail. Jack the monkey, his skeletal form revealed in the pale moonlight, sits beside him.

“Azlyn!” Telary calls out too loudly. He pats the empty space on his left side. “Come sit with me and my new friend.”

The capuchin takes one look at the approaching knight, hisses at her once for good measure, and bounds off.

“Don’t mind him,” Telary assures Azlyn as she takes her seat. “He probably just went to go find the buffet. He really needs it too, I think. Such a scrawny fellow.”

Azlyn sighs and shakes her head at the hammered wizard’s antics. As annoying and worrisome as it had been to initially discover, she can’t help but to admit to herself that now, out of danger, the whole thing seems rather amusing. The ever straight-laced Telary, footloose and fancy free. She never thought she’d see the day.

“So, Tel,” she says, placing a hand on his back and rubbing small circles there, “are you enjoying the cruise?”

He hesitates for a moment, then leans in close. “To tell you the truth, this boat’s kinda shabby. And there’s this awful smell. I hope you didn’t pay much for these tickets.”

“No, I didn’t,” she replies fondly. “In fact, we won this trip. All expenses paid.”

Telary nods. “Good. We all deserve a vacation, I think.” He’s quiet for a long moment, his eyes shifting back and forth seemingly at random.

Azlyn frowns at him. “What’s up?”

“You know,” he says, turning to look at her. His voice is low, and there’s a sparkle in his eyes. “You know, there’s a captain on this boat.”

That throws the knight for a loop. “Um, yeah. So?”

“Well,” Telary continues, somehow scooting even closer. “You know what captains can do, don’t ya Azlyn?”

She snorts derisively. “Get my boyfriend good and drunk.”

“No.” Telary backs up a bit, looks around as if he’s about to share a secret. He leans back in, eyes practically aglow. “Captains can marry people.”

Azlyn nearly chokes on her own spit, sending herself into a long, loud coughing fit. Several of the men working around her shoot dirty looks her way, muttering something about women on ships and disease.

“Yeah, I know,” Telary continues, shaking his head as if Azlyn is making a funny face rather than coughing like mad. “I know that sounds crazy right? But I’ll tell you something Azlyn, I just, I really do just _know_ that I want…”

“It seems we’ve no choice then,” Jack interrupts with a heavy sigh. Azlyn finally manages to compose herself, and looks up at him. The pirate stands before her with his arm still around Sora. Gibbs hovers beside the pair. “There’s only one person I can think of who might have any scuttlebutt about this Kiester of yours.”

“Keyhole,” Sora corrects, and it sounds like this isn’t the first time he’s had to do so.

Gibbs frowns at Jack. Actually, Azlyn thinks _frown_ might be too mild a word for the expression on the old first mate’s face. “Oh, Jack, you don’t mean… _her_ , do ye?”

Jack gives the man a sympathetic nod. “Oh, I’m afraid I do Gibbs. I’m afraid I do.”

**KH-KH-KH**

In a few hours the _Pearl_ reaches their next destination, and from there Jack, the trio, and Gibbs all pile into a longboat and set off with Pintel and Ragetti operating the oars. They follow a small inlet up into a murky bayou.

It takes only a few minutes for Sora to realize that they’re being watched, and he shudders uncomfortably at the sight of a shadowy figure lurking in the foliage. Then he spots another, and a third, all silently observing the rowboat’s passage.

“You take us to the nicest places, Jack,” Azlyn deadpans, swatting at a mosquito buzzing around her face.

Speaking of buzzed, Telary sits beside his girlfriend, still feeling the effects of Jack’s strong drink. Azlyn had hoped that after the wizard caught a small nap on the _Pearl_ he’d sober up, but it seems that whatever he’d imbibed is even worse (or better, depending on your perspective) than she’d thought.

She can’t get it out of her head, what he’d brought up back on the ship. Marriage, really? It had to be the drink talking, right? Certainly a sober Telary would realize that the were far from ready to take such a drastic leap forward in their relationship.

On the other hand, the thought of being Telary’s wife, like forever, has a definite appeal. And they say that alcohol can bring out you true self, so…

It’s something to think about, anyway.

“I think it’s important for young people to see the world,” the captain declares, standing on the prow like a general. “Experience all the sights, sounds, and smells it has to offer.” He takes a deep sniff and grimaces. “Well, maybe not the smells.”

Azlyn grunts and checks on Telary again. Ragetti seems to be keeping him busy, chatting him up about something or other.

Sora, however, is a bit more curious about their destination. He decides to ask Gibbs about it. “So, uh, who exactly are we supposed to be seeing here again?”

“An old acquaintance of Jack’s,” the first mate replies in a low voice. If the captain can hear him speaking, he gives no sign. “A witch and voodoo priestess with strange powers the likes of which man cannot grasp. Some say she can control men and beasts, commune with the dead, even predict the future.”

“Cool,” the Keybearer replies, leaning back in the boat. They’re now pulling into a small lagoon, surrounded on all sides by trees. Fireflies supply what little light they can, and Sora swears he can make out still more figures watching.

The oarsmen steer toward the base of the tallest tree, an impressively large hut built into its branches. The flickering light of a candle shines through a window like a beacon calling sailors to harbor.

“Is this where we rent the snorkels?” Telary inquires innocently. He grimaces down at the murky black water of the lagoon. “Because this doesn’t look like a great place for diving.”

Azlyn sighs and shakes her head. “No, Tel. We’re here to see, uh, a magic show!”

“A magic show!” the wizard exclaims, giggling with delight. “I love magic!”

“I’m not sure I like this,” Sora murmurs as they pull in to dock. He can see a woman’s shadowy outline step past the window. It seems they’re expected.

Jack gives the Keybearer his best reassuring grin. “Fear not, my spiky haired chum! Tia Dalma and I are old friends, go way back. Thick as thieves we are!” His grin falters a bit “Well, we were. Once.”

“And now?” Azlyn asks, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

The captain shrugs. “I’m sure she’s forgotten about any unpleasantness that may have inadvertently occurred.” That said, he climbs out of the boat and onto the huts balcony porch. The rest of the gang follows after him.

“Mind the boat,” Telary sternly orders the empty air, just before Azlyn pulls him inside.

The hut’s interior is rather larger than Sora had been expecting, but most of it is stuffed with shelves and hanging jars of odds and ends that gleam in the light of dozens of candles. The Keybearer grimaces as he shuffles past a container full of small eyeballs.

They eventually reach what appears to be the central room, where a large round table dominates most of the floor. The dark-skinned woman sitting at it is dressed in a gown that seems far too formal for a backwater swamp, yet she wears it well. Hair black as night falls to her waist, and odd tattoos mark the undersides of her eyes.

“Jack Sparrow!” the witch exclaims in a thick accent, rising from her seat and stepping over to the captain. She moves with an easy sort of sensuality, every movement like a step in a dance.

“My dear Tia!” Jack returns the greeting, flashing her his most charming smile. “It has been a while, has it not?”

“Do you think she knows any card tricks?” Telary whispers to Sora and Azlyn as they watch the old friends exchange pleasantries. Suddenly he raises his hand and erupts into loud shouts of, “Pick me, pick me!”

The redhead’s exclamation draws the eyes of Tia Dalma over to the trio, and when they land on Sora she lets out a gasp. The swamp witch scurries forward and grabs the Keybearer by the arm, pulling him over to her table.

“Aw, man,” Telary pouts. “I _never_ get picked!”

“Uh, excuse me, Miss Dalma,” Sora stutters, jerking his arm out of her grip. “Er, hi. I’m…”

Tia throws her head back and laughs, loud and long. When she looks back down at the boy, she’s smiling broadly. “Oh, I know who you are, Sora. A wielder of the Keyblade like no other before.”

Sora looks at the witch with a puzzled expression. “Before?”

Jack steps up to Sora’s side, rather indignant. “Oh, I’ve heard this one. Next she’ll say you’ve got ‘a touch of destiny’. Told me the same thing, verbatim.”

Tia laughs again, though this time it’s a low chuckle rather than a cackle. She shakes her head. “Oh no, you ain’t just got a _touch_ o’ destiny, young Keybearer.” She lays a finger on the crown pendant of Sora’s necklace. “Child, you been smacked with Destiny’s whole hand. The things in store fer you…”

“She’s good,” Telary comments offhand to Azlyn. “If I thought of a number, do you think she could guess it?”

“Six,” the witch deadpans, swiveling her gaze over to the couple. Telary gasps and raises his hands to his temples.

“Okay, enough with the floor show,” Azlyn declares, elbowing past Gibbs and sending him stumbling into Pintel and Ragetti. “We’ve got a Keyhole to find.”

“Keyhole,” Tia Dalma repeats thoughtfully, sauntering back to her chair. “Yes, you would be seeking such a thing.”

“Now, I know you don’t normally work pro bono, love,” Jack says, his tone signifying the beginnings of a negotiation. “And I respect that keen business sense of yours, I do. But funds are a bit tight at the moment, so…”

“A wielder of the Keyblade has come to me seeking the Keyhole, to seal our world against the forces that would destroy it once more,” the witch interrupts, her voice steady and serious. “To charge for a service such as that would be the height of arrogance.”

Jack’s worried expression slides easily into a smile. “Well, that’s all well and good then. For a moment I thought I’d have to give up my undead monkey, and I’ve grown quite fond of him. Great for a bit of shooting practice, he is.”

Tia stands once again, muttering noises that barely sound like real words. She moves to a nearby shelf, Pintel and Ragetti darting aside to allow her access. She clicks her tongue as she searches, grabbing several different jars and vials. Two jars contain red and blue powder, a vial of red blood, and another jar packed with what look to be the talons of some large birds.

“What are those for?” Pintel nervously inquires.

The witch turns and gives him a small smile. “Nothin’, actually.” She plunges her arm into the dark recesses of the shelf, up to her elbow. When she draws it out again, she holds a bag full of small bones. “They were just in the way.” She puts most of the stuff back, but as she makes her way back to the table she hands Azlyn one of the powder jars.

“Uh, thanks?” the knight says, miffed.

Tia lets out a small laugh and nods to Telary. “Fer the hangover.”

The witch sits down, beckoning everyone to gather closer. They come, Jack sharply thrusting his elbow into Gibbs’ side when the first mate stops right in front of him.

“Summon the Keyblade,” Tia instructs Sora, her eyes solemn and serious. He does so, holding the blade over the table as directed.

“I didn’t know Sora was a magician’s assistant!” Telary murmurs. “Where’s his sparkly dress?”

Tia Dalma starts her chant up once more. She swirls the bag of bones over the Keyblade, then opens it up and tips I over. The bones spill out, impacting against the Keyblade before landing on the table. At another nod from the witch, Sora dismisses his weapon.

To most eyes present, it appears that the bones, most likely human phalanges, are scattered at random. But Tia apparently sees beyond that, and as she examines the results a mischievous grin spreads across her face.

“So, uh, Miss Dalma,” Sora asks nervously. “What, uh, did you see anything? Do you know where the Keyhole is?”

She looks up at him, sparing a brief glance to Jack. “I do, child. And it happens to be someplace you familiar with.”

“If you say Tortuga…” Azlyn snarls, fists clenching tight at the thought of revisiting the pirate port.

The witch laughs again. “Not so, dear Azlyn. You seek a place of order, no chaos. A place of rules and regulations, both spoken and unspoken.”

“Oh, bugger,” Jack sighs, getting the witch’s gist loud and clear.

“If it be the Keyhole ye seek,” Tia declares, “Port Royal be the place.” She shudders once, as if a chilly wind is blowing over her. “And hurry ye must too, I tink. Or ye could find yerselves arrivin’ too late.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“No,” Jack states definitively, as he has been for the past half hour or so.

“Jack, you’ve _got_ to!” Sora argues right back, quite weary of this argument that has seemed to go on for ages. Since they left Tia Dalma’s, at least.

“I’m captain of this ship, mate,” the pirate says, his arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t have to do anything that I don’t want to! And that includes sailing to places where I’ll likely be immediately arrested.”

“Tis true,” Gibbs agrees, nodding firmly behind his captain. “And a smart choice too. Most o’ these men got nothin’ but trouble awaiting them in that town.”

“Trouble is what you’re gonna have if that Keyhole isn’t protected,” Azlyn pipes up. “And the Heartless may not be actively seeking it, but eventually one might stumble on it. And from there, you can kiss this world goodbye.”

“I don’t see why _I_ have to take ye,” Jack protests, sounding like a little kid objecting to eating his vegetables. “What about that pop-in-from-the-sky magic you used to avoid Norrington at the end of your last visit.”

Sora winces. “We thought of that but, well…”

“Telary’s the only one who really knows how to use it correctly,” Azlyn finishes. She throws a thumb over her shoulder, to where Telary is playing a game of bingo only he can hear being called.

“I fink it might be a good course of action, captain,” Ragetti, who’s currently acting as helmsmen, chimes in. “Seems to me the destruction of our world would wreak havoc on the piratin’ profession.” Jack gives the one-eyed man a pointed glare. “Just sayin’ so, sir.”

Beside him, Pintel shakes his head. “I told ya a hundred times mate, leave the politics to them as is inclined to it.”

“For once in your life, Jack,” Sora pleads with a deep sigh, “just please think of someone other than yourself. What you do here tonight could ensure the safety of people all over this world, for generations to come. A noble deed that will echo through the ages, change the course of history…”

“Plus, we’ll make it worth your while,” Azlyn chimes in.

 _That_ gets Jack’s attention. “Oh, will you now?” the pirate inquires somewhat skeptically. “And what, pray tell, makes you think that you bloody kids possess anything that _I_ want?”

The knight shrugs. “Every man has his price, Jack. Name yours, and we’ll see what we can do.”

Jack leans back on his haunches, losing himself in thought. After a moment, he beckons Mr. Gibbs over to whisper something in the first mate’s ear. Gibbs nod enthusiastically after hearing the words of his captain, and that seems to satisfy Jack.

“Alright, lass, I agree to your terms,” he declares, grinning slyly. “And what I demand in payment is young Sora’s lovely blade.”

The offworlder pair exchange looks, silently going over the deal together. After a moment, Sora shrugs and turns back to Jack. “Sure thing, Captain. Get us into Port Royal, let me seal the Keyhole, and I’ll give you the Keyblade.”

Jack raises a suspicious eyebrow at the by-all-accounts mad acceptance of his deal. When he’d made the offer, he was sure he’d be rejected.

“Well, if you’re willing to pay, I’m willing to play,” the pirate declares, thrusting his hand out for a shake. Sora nods once solemnly and takes his hand. “Very well gents, off to Port Royal then!”

At the word of their captain, the crew of the _Black Pearl_ begins to scurry about and fulfill their necessary duties. And just below the figurehead, a cleverly concealed Dusk shoots through a portal to relay word to its master.

**KH-KH-KH**

“That can’t be right,” Norrington declares, shaking his head at Luxord’s suggestion. “There’s no logical reason for Jack Sparrow to sail to Port Royal. He’d be arrested on sight, hanged by morning.”

Luxord rolls his eyes. The pair are holed up in the _Dauntless_ ’s captain’s cabin, newly refurbished after the recent bout with Barbossa’s crew. They’ve been there the better part of the last few hours, waiting for actionable intelligence on the _Pearl_ ’s whereabouts.

“Well, whether it’s logical or not, that is where he is going,” the Nobody argues. “And how fortuitous for us. From our position we can be there not long after he arrives. It shall be quite a simple matter for the Heartless to find and capture him.”

Norrington frowns at the mention of the Heartless. “I am still not assured of those… _things_ usefulness to me. Even after your hours of instructions, I can’t be sure I can maintain control of them. And I _won’t_ have them running amok in town and endangering civilians.”

Luxord shrugs, an annoying habit. “There is always risk involved in any great enterprise, always a gamble. After tonight you could be rid of Jack Sparrow and his disease. Is that not worth a bit of uncertainty?”

Norrington says nothing for a long few minutes, his jaw locked tight as he wrestles with the decision now before him. Finally he unclenches, sighing as his mind is made up.

“Very well,” the commodore relents. “To Port Royal then. And, with any luck, the end of Jack Sparrow.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Even under their captain’s orders, the crew of the _Black Pearl_ are reluctant to come too close to the town of Port Royal, where so many of them are wanted for one offense or another. So the _Pearl_ weighs anchor a safe distance away, while Jack and the trio make the rest of the trip in a lifeboat.

“So what, do we just search the whole town?” Azlyn asks, holding on to Telary to keep him from falling overboard.

“Okay, so _this_ is where we’re going snorkeling?” the wizard slurs, unfortunately still quite loony.

“Not sure I have any better ideas,” Sora sighs.

Azlyn notices that the boy becomes suddenly uncomfortable and turns away for some reason. Casting her gaze around, she spots Telary looking curiously at the Keybearer. Why that would cause any awkwardness or discomfort is a mystery to her.

“Well, I’m for sure not showing me handsome face all over the town,” Jack protests. “So you two had better figure something else out, or…”

“Relax guys,” Telary interrupts airily. “Let’s just ask Elizabeth, I’m sure _she_ knows where the scuba shop is!”

A pregnant pause settles over the boat for a moment, and then Sora’s face suddenly lights up.

“Y’know, he might have a point,” he announces, ignoring the looks suggesting that perhaps _he_ has been imbibing some illicit substances himself. “Not about snorkeling, but about Elizabeth. She’s the governor’s daughter. If there were any records that might show the Keyhole, she could maybe find them. Or maybe she’s heard rumors or something.”

“You want us to sneak into the bloody _governor’s_ mansion?” Jack explodes, practically convulsing.

“Keep it together, Sparrow,” Azlyn admonishes him. “Just think, when you’ve got the Keyblade, you can stroll into a _hundred_ governor’s mansions and walk out with whatever you want.”

Jack settles at that thought, smiling to himself.

“On the other hand,” she continues, “it’s best to have a plan about that too. And I know just where we can get one.”

They dock quietly and pile out, then head off for the blacksmith’s shop. Sure enough, when they arrive they find Will Turner inside, along with none other than Elizabeth Swan.

“Well, what do we have here?” Jack chuckles, stepping closer to the illicit couple. “Dear little William Turner, the most forthright man in the Caribbean, cavorting with another man’s fiancée!”

“Jack!” Will exclaims, letting go of Elizabeth’s hand. “What are you doing here? And with Sora, Azlyn, and Telary?”

“Looking for you, actually,” Sora informs the blacksmith, smiling a bit himself. “We needed to see Elizabeth, and we thought you’d know how to get in touch.”

“Obviously we were right,” Azlyn chuckles smugly.

“What’s Legolas doing here?” Telary mutters to himself.

“What did you need to see me for?” Elizabeth inquires, stepping forward.

“We’re looking for something, and we need your help,” Sora explains quickly. “Have you ever heard your father say anything about a Keyhole?”

The young woman thinks on it a moment, then her eye light up. “Come to think of it, there was talk of a strange Keyhole when we first arrived here. Something the original surveyors spotted in the caves beneath the fort.”

Azlyn nods triumphantly. “That’s probably it. Could you lead us to those cliffs?”

Elizabeth opens her mouth to speak, but before she can get a word out there’s a knock on the smithy’s doors.

“Open these doors, by order of the Commodore,” a posh, familiar voice demands.

“Hide!” Will hisses to everyone, who all scatter to conceal themselves as best they can while the blacksmith himself makes his way to the doors. “How may I help you?”

James Norrington himself stands at the doors, flanked on either side by Lance Soldier Heartless. “Good evening, Mr. Turner. Quite interesting to see you awake at such a late hour.”

The young man shrugs. “A blacksmith’s work is never done, Commodore. May I ask to what I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“Jack Sparrow,” the commodore declares simply. “I’ve reason to believe he and his merry band have arrived in town. Naturally I thought they’d seek you out.”

Will feigns ignorance, shrugging. “I’m afraid I haven’t seen Jack in quite some time, Commodore. Certainly not here tonight. No one here but me.”

“He’s lying,” Luxord states, stepping up alongside Norrington. “The young man has a simply _ghastly_ poker face. Sparrow is here, and the Keybearer as well.”

“I assure you…”

Norrington shoves Will aside, sending the Lance Soldiers in with a nod. “Forgive me if I’m not inclined to believe the man coveting my fiancée.”

The Heartless go to work, quickly and efficiently knocking through any hiding place they can find. They leave no table unturned, even kicking over one of the anvils. But despite their efforts, they find no one hiding out on the smithy’s floor.

Because the entire party is in fact _above_ the floor, looking down from the rafters and holding their breaths.

“Well, are you satisfied Commodore?” Will asks once the inspection is done, not bothering to conceal the haughtiness in his voice.

“This simply can’t be right,” Luxord declares, beside himself. “They have to be hiding in here, there’s no other viable alternative.”

“It appears you were mistaken,” Norrington says, his voice strained by anger. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised…”

Up in the rafters, Telary perks up at the mention of the word _surprise_. Of course, that’s why they’re hiding up here! There can only be one logical explanation.

“Surprise!” the wizard shouts, leaping off the rafter and into the soft hay lining the smithy’s floor. “Happy birthday!”

Azlyn smacks her forehead, exasperated.

Luxord and Norrington look up, easily spotting their targets now. Norrington gets even more than he bargained for, unexpectedly finding his fiancée hiding amongst the criminals.

“Elizabeth!” the commodore exclaims, taken aback. “What are you doing here, with…?” He casts his gaze back down to Will. “ _You_!”

“This,” Jack states as he and the other jump down to the floor, weapons drawn, “is why I don’t get involved with engaged women.” He thinks a moment, then amends, “Anymore.”

“James,” Elizabeth stutters desperately. “Please, James, you must let me explain…”

Before she gets the chance, the ground begins to rumble, nearly knocking the party off their feet. When it stops, they have barely a split second to recover before a huge portal of Darkness opens before them.

From the manifested shadows emerges a purple and black Heartless as tall as a ship’s mast, easily bursting through the smithy’s roof. It resembles a well-dressed pirate captain, right down to a purple eyepatch and black tricorner with the symbol of the Heartless emblazoned upon it. In the creature’s right hand it holds a cutlass as tall as a man, and its left appendage ends in a steely black cannon.

“Oh, bugger,” Jack declares, nearly dropping his sword in fright. The others nod their agreement. Even Telary feels himself sobering significantly at the sight.

The Closehanded Captain slams down its massive sword, cleaving cleanly through the smithy’s back wall and scattering the heroes. Will leads Elizabeth away as fast as he can, while Jack and the trio scurry into the street.

The Captain turns to follow them, its sole yellow eye fixated upon Jack. In its primitive mind, the creature has only one goal: Kill Jack Sparrow.

The Heartless’s cannon hand booms, firing forth a swirling ball of purple flame. It misses Jack and his companions but slams into the haberdashery across the street. What parts of the building aren’t knocked down outright burst into flames.

Sora scowls at the sight, and with a nod to Jack he signals an attack. The Keybearer and the pirate charge together against the Captain, but its sword sweeps down to intercept their blades.

Azlyn throws her shield at the creature’s face, but it merely raises its cannon arm to block the disk. Without looking, it fires off a shot at her. The projectile misses, but still more damage is done to the town.

By now the confrontation has drawn the attention of the locals, most of whom creep out of their abodes just long enough to see what’s going on and retreat, screaming in helpless fear.

Norrington sees and hears it all, the color draining from his face.

“No!” the commodore declares, casting his gaze around at the fruits of his actions. “No, this isn’t right.” He turns to Luxord, a manic look in his eyes. “This isn’t what I wanted. I only wanted Sparrow!”

The Nobody shrugs, most definitely not empathetic to the man’s plight. “You cast the die, Norrington. If you weren’t prepared to accept the outcome, you shouldn’t have made the bet.”

Sora, Jack, and Azlyn continue to face off against the Closehanded Captain, but Telary feels as if he can do nothing but sit on the sidelines. The dizzying effects of the alcohol he consumed is mostly gone, but all he can seem to feel now is cold, sober fear.

He cries out in alarm and backs away as Jack flies through the air to land near him, kicked by the monstrous Heartless.

“Jack!” Telary cries in alarm, moving quickly to inspect the pirate. He sits up, bruised but alive. “Jack, what are we gonna do Jack? That thing is a monster, how can we defeat it?”

The captain gives the wizard a thoughtful look. “Scared are ye, me ginger matey?” Telary nods. But Jack just smiles, reaching for the flask at his side. “Looks like you’re in need of a bit of courage, mate.”

Sora and Azlyn, meanwhile, have their hands full containing the Heartless. It blocks their attacks with its cutlass, and the blasts from its cannon keep them well off balance.

“Ugh!” Azlyn frustratedly growls, back flipping away from a cannon blast. “This is just typical, isn’t it? We’re about to die, and my boyfriend is probably still too drunk for me to tell him how much I care about him!”

“You had a pretty good run last world,” Sora points out, struggling momentarily against the creature’s cutlass before pulling back. “Figures you’d have lousy luck in this one.”

Azlyn is about to respond when she’s cut off suddenly, by a loud roar from behind the Heartless. Curious, it turns to find Telary and Jack standing before it, defiant and fearless in a way that only extreme inebriation can seem to bring on.

“This is a _great_ party, guys!” the wizard declares boldly, a sphere of flames held in each palm. “But no party would be complete without a few… _fireworks_!”

He hurls the flames directly into the Closehanded Captain’s face, blinding and burning it all in one blow. It lets out a hollow Heartless scream stumbling back. Azlyn and Sora press the attack, slamming their weapons into its legs. It roars again, falling backwards as it begins to dissipate into dark particles.

Jack watches the Heartless fall, gasping as he realizes that it’s going to land right atop Norrington far before it can have a chance to disappear. The commodore’s Nobody companion simply teleports in a swirl of Darkness, but Norrington himself remains frozen in fear.

“Oy, Norrington!” Jack calls out, already unconsciously rushing forward. “Get outta the way you bloody fool!”

Norrington turns to look at the oncoming Jack, but his feet refuse to move. That turns out to be unnecessary, however, as the pirate captain barrels straight into his sworn enemy, the dying Heartless mere inches away from crushing them both.

At the very last second the pair manages to clear, rolling along the dirt street together. The impact of the Heartless shakes the ground, and then it disappears, releasing a crystalline heart into the sky.

Sora watches it drift upward, noticing that it sticks around longer than usual. Following the heart’s flight path, he scowls as he notices it float to the Organization member’s hand before vanishing.

“Well done, Sora,” Luxord congratulates the Keybearer mockingly. His gloating finished, he disappears into Darkness.

Even though the day seems saved, the Keybearer’s heart sinks.

Across the street, Norrington and Jack have stopped rolling. They came apart at some point, and now each man rests on all fours, staring warily at the other.

“Sparrow,” Norrington breathes out, sounding like he can barely believe what he’s saying. “You saved me.”

Jack shrugs, fixes the commodore with a look. “I wouldn’t get used to it, mate.”

By then Will and Elizabeth have arrived once more. Norrington looks up at them, sadness and betrayal in his eyes.

“James, I…” the governor’s daughter stammers, at a loss for words. “I’m sorry.”

The commodore says nothing for a moment, then sighs. He stands up, brushing off the front of his coat.

“No Elizabeth,” he replies, struggling almost as much as his fiancée. “I am the one who should apologize.” He looks sadly at Will. “Clearly you deserve a better man than me.”

“James…”

“Commodore…”

Norrington shakes his head, cutting off the protesting couple. “My decision is final. The engagement, Elizabeth, is off.”

Elizabeth nods her acceptance, slotting her hand into Will’s.

That business concluded, Norrington turns to Jack.

“Well then,” the pirate sighs, holding out his wrists obsequiously, “I suppose it’s the slammer for me then? And the noose, to follow?”

Azlyn and Sora stalk forward to back Jack up, only to be stopped by Telary. Even drunk, the wizard has a certain wisdom about him.

Norrington frowns, seeming almost in physical pain. “I’m afraid not, Mr. Sparrow. Your arrest should be carried out by a man of the law, an honest and forthright officer… And as of today, I fear I am no longer that man.”

Without another word, Norrington turns and walks away.

**KH-KH-KH**

Elizabeth leads the group down to the shore, the great naval fortress of Port Royal looming atop the cliffs above. The natives are off ahead, while the offworlders bring up the rear.

Sora walks far to the left, occasionally stealing glances over at Telary. The wizard is of course oblivious, back in his own little world due to his second shot of Jack’s special. But Azlyn notices, and surreptitiously sidles up to the Keybearer.

“What’s going on?” she asks. “You got a problem with Telary?”

Sora lets out a small chuckle, shaking his head. They’re entering the caves now, Will holding up a candle for light.

“No, of course not,” the boy answers. “I mean, I realize he’s been off tonight, of course I do. It’s just that, well…” He takes on a sheepish look, leaning in close to whisper, “He asked me to marry him.”

Azlyn’s jaw drops open, barely noticing that Sora is skipping on ahead.

They reach the deepest cavern, a small pool of water collecting at the back. A path of stones offers a dry way to the wall. Hidden in the recesses, Sora can just barely make out a Keyhole.

He steps to the end of the path, Keyblade in hand. Raising it to the wall, he unleashes the familiar beam. It slams into the Keyhole, and with a solid _click_ , it disappears.

“Most impressive, young Sora,” Jack declares as the boy returns to the rest of the group at the cave’s front. He holds out his hand. “And now, as per our deal?”

Sora shrugs, offering the Keyblade’s hilt up to the pirate captain.

“Now wait a minute,” he says, holding up a finger and casting a suspicious look over the boy. “This can’t be that simple. There’s got to be some trick here, I simply wouldn’t accept it otherwise.”

“C’mon,” Sora says, with a grin, shrugging once. “It’s me. The squeaky clean hero. Would I try and fool you, the great and wily Captain Jack Sparrow?”

Jack nods once, then quick as a cobra strikes out with his hand. He snatches the Keyblade by the hilt and pulls it back. He even skips away a few steps, just in case. Once he feels secure, he raises the blade to eye level, examining it proudly.

That lasts for about five seconds, and then it’s gone in a flash of light. An identical light flashes in Sora’s hand, and when it fades the Keyblade once again rests in the hand of its rightful wielder.

Telary bursts out into appreciative applause. “Yay! Do it again Sora, do it again!”

Jack’s bewildered look morphs into a sly smile. “Ah, it seems I was correct. Even a heroic type like you has to have his devious little tricks. Couldn’t survive as long as you have without them.”

Sora grins right back at the captain. “I usually leave that stuff to Azlyn. But yeah, I have a few up my sleeve. And hey, you’ve always got the _Pearl_.”

Jack nods. “That I do, mate.” His expression grows devious again. “But some day, when my crew is right bloodthirsty and seasoned, we’ll be coming to take that blade. By then I’m sure I’ll have the way to wield it.”

“If anyone could figure it out, I’m sure it would be you,” Elizabeth says with a giggle. The others nod their agreement.

“I don’t think he’d do it,” Telary suddenly interjects, his voice muddled but steady. Everyone turns to look at him. “I mean, c’mon, we’re friends. You saved Norrington, and you two were the worst of enemies. In the end, you’re all heart Jack Sparrow.”

The cave is silent for a long moment.

“I think he’s right,” Will agrees, barely containing the amusement in his voice.

“Now wait a moment, wait a moment!” Jack protests. “I only saved Norrington because… Because I was worried if he got bumped off, I’d acquire myself a nemesis what had some brains in his head! The ol’ commodore was great fun, but no serious threat. Exactly the kind of enemy a man such as myself requires.”

Everyone laughs at the captain’s hasty reasoning.

“You know Jack,” Elizabeth says, grinning, “some say you’re the worst pirate to ever sail the seven seas.”

“But we know better,” Sora chimes in, grinning.

“Yeah,” Telary slurs happily. “You’re the _best_.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Telary awakens in a soft bed, snuggled in warmly under the covers. All of which is rendered meaningless, of course, by his terrible hangover.

The sound of the door opening is like the crack of a thunder spell. He opens his eyes, and is instantly reminded of the demise of Ansem… er, Xehanort’s Heartless.

“Hey there.” Azlyn’s voice normally fills up his entire being, making him feel like the greatest, luckiest guy in the universe. Today it grates like the cries of dying cattle. “Oh, here.”

Telary feels hands grab his wrists, open his hands, and place what feels like a glass of cold water there. He grabs it and opens his eyes a crack. They fly open when they see the liquid inside the glass.

“It’s purple, Azlyn,” he grumbles. He swears it doesn’t’ even come out as words.

“Yep,” his girlfriend replies, so apparently she must understand anyway. “I put that hangover stuff Tia Dalma gave me in there. I wasn’t sure it would do anything, but then again she used bones to find a Keyhole, so…”

“We found a Keyhole?” Telary asks, his memory hazy. He begins to sip the water, finding it tastes normal even with its discoloration. “I remember we were running from soldiers, then there were some pigs…”

Azlyn chuckles, and for whatever reason it doesn’t seem so grating. This stuff must be really working. “I thought you’d wake up like this.”

He feels good enough now to sit up, so he does. Azlyn is sitting beside him, grinning lazily. He looks back at her, slightly worried.

“I was really out of it, eh?”

She nods. “Totally.”

He bites his lip, setting the glass on his bedside table. “I didn’t, uh, didn’t say anything crazy right?”

Azlyn barks out a laugh. Apparently that hangover cure isn’t absolute, because it hurts pretty bad. “Tel, baby, you thought the _Black Pearl_ was a luxury cruise liner.”

He sighs. “No, no, not like that. I mean… I mean did I say anything crazy to, uh, to _you_?”

“Oh,” Azlyn says, getting it. She doesn’t say anything else, just pushes Telary back down into the bed. She lays beside him, one arm thrown over his stomach. For a moment she’s quiet, gaze oddly fixated on one of her fingers. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t say anything to me that I didn’t want to hear."


	43. Sand Trap

“I just don’t know,” Telary sighs, looking over the item displayed before him with a critical eye. “It seems nice, and it’s within our budget, but…”

“C’mon, Tel,” Sora says, encouragingly smiling at his friend and giving the rug he’s holding a firm shake. “This would be perfect for Jasmine and Aladdin.”

“I have to agree,” Azlyn chimes in, nodding from where she’s sitting on a wooden crate and watching the scene unfold. “Sure they live in a palace and everything, but from what we know, the only rug they have is always flying away.”

“I suppose,” the wizard relents, his shoulders relaxing perceptibly. “I just don’t know if it seems like a great _engagement_ gift, y’know?”

The trio had been a bit blindsided when, after a surprisingly smooth sealing of Quasimodo’s world’s Keyhole, they’d found a note inviting them to a get together in celebration of Aladdin and Jasmine of Agrabah’s engagement to be married. Even considering that they’re in somewhat of a time crunch, it was decided they could spare a few hours to congratulate their good friends.

But Telary had thrown off the plan somewhat by suggesting they find a gift before making their way to the palace. It’s the polite thing to do, after all.

“Well, you better hurry up and decide whether or not that’s what we’re getting,” Sora announces, pointing down the street. “Because here comes Al now.”

The former street rat barrels down the street at the trio, Iago flapping along just above his shoulder. They skid to a stop in front of the group, looking worn out and very worried.

“There you are!” Aladdin exclaims, wiping sweat off his brow. Abu’s furry head pops up over his shoulder, looking just as concerned as his human friend.

“Hey, Aladdin,” Telary greets him, quickly moving to block the potential engagement gift with his body. “What’s going on?”

“Jafar’s escaped from his lamp!” Iago declares, his entire body shaking as he touches down on Azlyn’s shoulder. “I was there when he got out, saw the whole thing! It was, erm, uh, it was that peddler.”

Azlyn frowns at that. “How the hell could that have happened? Jasmine said she locked the lamp in the dungeon.”

“I only saw what happened afterwards,” Iago answer, looking away sheepishly. “All I know is that Jafar’s out.”

“And he’ll probably be after revenge,” Sora says, wincing at the thought of the power at the evil genie’s disposal. “Still sore about that whole lamp thing, I’d bet.”

“Okay, so you saw him get out,” Telary says, thinking on the parrot’s testimony. “But you had to have seen what he did next. You used to be his lackey, there’s no way he wouldn’t have said something to you.”

“Uh, well,” Iago stammers, looking everywhere but at the trio or Aladdin. “The thing is that I was, well I was…”

“Iago,” Aladdin says, very sternly glaring down at the former minion. “If you know something, _tell_ us. This is the only chance I’m giving you. If I find out you’re holding something back, we’re through.”

By now everyone has joined with Aladdin to glower at Iago. Under the pressure of all their eyes, he finally cracks.

“Okay, okay!” he relents, shaking his head in anguish. “He’s going out to the ancient ruins, okay? That’s where he’s gonna get set up for his grand plan!”

“That doesn’t make much sense,” Telary chimes in. “If this peddler guy freed him, then Jafar would have to grant his three wishes. Why would…”

“He’s a tricky guy, Jafar!” Iago blurts, red feathers falling from his body. “Probably duped that guy into freeing him. Look, all I know is that Jafar’s back, and in the ruins. I swear!”

“Don’t worry Iago, I believe you,” Sora assures the bird, with his usual open smile. “We can’t let Jafar get his plans together. I say we head out to those ruins and get the jump on him!”

“We’ll need Carpet’s help to get out to the ruins,” Aladdin says, making his way quickly down the street. Everyone else scrambles to catch up. “He’ll meet up with us outside the city.”

When they reach Agrabah’s outskirts, it quickly becomes clear that even with Carpet for transportation, getting to the ruins will prove no simple task.

“Yeah, that looks like a bad one,” Aladdin comments, eyeing the distant sandstorm cloud with a frown. “Not like some of the ones we had this past year, but I wouldn’t want to fly through it.”

“Well, I guess that’s just too bad,” Iago declares, shaking his head disappointedly. “Don’t worry guys, we gave it our best shot!”

“There’s gotta be a way to get past it,” Sora says, frowning as he tries to drum up a method.

“Yeah, gee, looks terrible,” Genie suddenly chimes in. Everyone gasps, turning to see the big blue lug leaning nonchalantly against the city’s outer wall. “If only you knew a guy with semi-phenomenal, sorta-cosmicish powers who could help you out with a snap of his beautifully manicured fingers.”

“Uh, hi there Genie,” Aladdin greets his friend, giving him a tiny wave. “Good thing you showed up when you did, huh? Do you mind?”

“Do I mind?” Genie laughs, growing several feet taller with every chuckle. “Kid, this is the kind of thing I live for. After all, what’s the point of having a genie for a best friend if you don’t take advantage every once in a while? I call this little number Sandstorm Sweep!”

Genie takes a deep breath in and out, rising into the air and facing the sandstorm with a determined squint. He pulls his hand back, magical sparks swirling around his extended pointer finger.

After a moment though, he seems to deflate, all of the bright pyrotechnics that usually accompany his power displays gone.

“Uh, are you okay Genie?” Sora asks concernedly.

“Yeah, is there some kinda genie rule about sandstorms that you forgot?” Azlyn quips.

“No, that’s not it,” the big blue lug admits with a heavy sigh. “It’s just not even a challenge, y’know? I never get a chance to really cut loose anymore.”

All earlier verve and pizazz forgotten, Genie imply snaps his fingers. In an instant, all the sand swirling on the distant horizon settles, drifting down to the desert floor like so much confetti.

“Whoa!” Sora exclaims, smiling widely at his azure friend. “Genie, c’mon, that was amazing.”

“Oh yeah, very cool,” Telary agrees, trying hard not to sound patronizing. “Right, Az?”

“Sure,” the knight says nonchalantly, barely looking up from her current activity of picking sand out of her nails. “Real great. Ten out of ten, would wish again.”

“Yeah, great,” Iago mutters lowly. “Real helpful, G. Thanks a million pal.”

“Nice to be appreciated, I suppose,” Genie says, shrugging. “Maybe next time you can give me a bit of a challenge, eh Al?”

With one last huff, the genie disappears in a puff of blue smoke. Though taken aback by his uncharacteristic snit fit, the group knows that they’ve got no time to lose. Hopping on Carpet’s back, they take off for the ruins, and a confrontation with their old enemy.

**KH-KH-KH**

The trek out to the dilapidated wreck of the old desert city isn’t long, but everyone seems on edge. None moreso than Iago, however. The little parrot can’t seem to stop fidgeting, and not even threats from Azlyn seem to be able to inspire him to keep his cool.

“So,” Sora conversationally asks Aladdin to pass the time, “what exactly are these old ruins?” He can see them on the horizon now, just some tall stone towers rising into the air.

“A long time ago, like a thousand years, the desert used to be ruled by a nasty demon named Amuk Munrah,” the street rat explains. “That’s what the legends say, at least. The ruins used to be his capital city, but the people rebelled and sealed him away somehow, I’m not sure. Then they moved out and founded Agrabah where it is today, which just left the city to crumble. When I was on the streets I heard some legends about it, but there never was any way for me to get over there and check it out.” 

“You’re sure this demon lord was sealed _tight_?’ Telary nervously inquires. “Not sure I’d like dealing with him any more than I would Jafar.”

Aladdin laughs. “Tel, don’t worry man. This was a long time ago, and the story might not even be true. All that’s out here is a bunch of wrecked old buildings, and sand. Lots of sand.”

“Wrecked buildings, hm?” Azlyn chimes in, sounding a bit smug. “Well Al, that building there don’t look too wrecked to me.”

The knight points, the boys all following her finger to a large, ziggurat-type construction. It stands out in stark contrast to the towers surrounding it, looking as gleaming and polished as if it were freshly built.

“Well, I think we know where Jafar is hiding out,” Sora announces.

Carpet takes them in, trying to be as stealthy as it can. It stops to a hover above the impressively large area at the buildings peak, and the heroes embark.

“Okay, Iago,” Aladdin declares, giving the parrot a stern look. “If you know anything else, now’s the time to speak up. If not…”

“I’ve told you everything, I swear!” the parrot declares, raising his wings defensively.

“Have you though, bird?”

Heartless begin appearing around the group like crazy, at least a dozen Luna Bandits surrounding them. Weapons come out immediately, everyone backing together to deny the enemies an angle. Iago flaps in the middle of them, hyperventilating nervously.

“Sora, that wasn’t Jafar,” Aladdin points out.

A dark portal opens a few feet outside the Heartless cordon, and the Organization XIII Nobody known as Luxord steps out from it, hands clasped behind his back.

“Organization!” Telary declares, a tad unnecessarily.

“Good afternoon, Sora and friends,” Luxord says with a devilish smirk. “So delighted you decided to play along with my little game.”

“You set us up!” the Keybearer angrily deduces. He turns to Iago, his glare becoming even more intense when directed at the traitor. “And you helped!”

“I had no choice, ya gotta believe me!” the parrot declares, hopeless and hysterical. “He’s got Jafar’s lamp!”

This elicits surprised gasps from everyone, and they turn back to face the Nobody. As if to prove Iago’s point, he holds up the black lamp serving as Jafar’s prison in front of him.

“Indeed I do,” he declares, shaking the vessel menacingly.

“He said that if I didn’t lure you guys out here, he was gonna release Jafar,” Iago continues. “So ya see, really all I was doing was protecting Agrabah!”

“You could have told us the truth,” Sora points out, still obviously upset by the betrayal. “But you were afraid of what he’d do to you, weren’t you?”

“Some friend you are, only looking out for yourself,” Azlyn chimes in, even more venomous than Sora.

“It matters not how, I suppose,” Luxord muses, holding up the lamp and looking it over thoughtfully. “In truth, I’m curious as to whether I could even make use of a genie’s power. After all, is not a heart prerequisite for wishing?”

“A head definitely is,” Azlyn threatens the man. “Which you’ll also be missing if you don’t hand over that lamp.”

“These Heartless won’t stop us from getting it back!” Sora adds. “One way or another…”

“Perhaps if you’d still your mouth for a moment, I could inform you of _my_ way,” the Nobody interrupts. “Which, I should note, is the only way you’ll be retrieving this lamp and the powerful being locked inside it.”

“Okay, tell us,” Aladdin demands. He’s honestly quite confused by everything that’s going on, but he knows that getting Jafar’s lamp is the number one priority of the day.

“Deep inside this structure is a room that used to serve as the demon lord Amuk Munrah’s throne room,” Luxord explains. “I shall go there and await your arrival. You have twenty minutes to make your way through the foes placed throughout the ziggurat. If you arrive before the time limit expires, you may have the lamp. If not, I shall put to the test whether or not a Nobody may summon a genie.”

“That’s it?” Azlyn demands. “Sounds like you Organization jerks are seriously running out of ideas!”

“I await your arrival,” is all Luxord has to say in reply. With another smirk, he steps back into his portal, leaving the heroes and Heartless behind.

The denizens of Darkness converge, weapons swinging. Sora blocks an initial attack and pushes back, separating the group into individual battles. He pushes the attack on his opponent, mindful of the time limit. He breaks off for another swing, but it is parried by the creature’s sword. The Luna Bandit counterattacks, forcing the Keybearer back a step. A high slash invites a parry, then a low follow-up makes Sora step back again.

Now the Keyblade wielder swings downward. The Heartless raises one blade to deflect, but his strike pushes it down. Presented with a free opening, Sora swings downward and ends the monster’s threat.

Turning, he sees that his friends are all engaged, and another pair of Luna Bandits are sneaking up on Aladdin. He quickly leaps forward, demolishing one in his opening gambit but missing the other.

It turns and attacks, but Sora easily blocks both swords. Turning to the side, he drives a stab directly into the creature’s side. The clang of Azlyn’s shield startles him, and looking to his left he sees another Luna Bandit fall.

Luckily that seems to clear the field.

“Alright, we haven’t got a lot of time,” Sora announces. “So let’s just head down, taking what Heartless we can out.”

“Wait a second!” Iago chimes in desperately. “I just gotta apologize to you guys, alright? I had no choice, I swear. If Jafar was loose, I just knew he’d find a way to mess with the city. Sure, I was worried about me, but I also didn’t want him to hurt you guys. ‘Cause you’re my friends!”

Everyone is silent for a long moment, each person mulling over the parrot’s speech.

Naturally, it’s Sora who’s the first to speak up.

“Y’know, I guess you’re right Iago,” he relents. “I mean, you _were_ just looking out for us, and all of Agrabah to boot. If you’d warned us, that Nobody might’ve decided to just release Jafar anyway.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Iago agrees, not that he’d attempt anything less than full subservience at this point.

“Maybe Sora’s right,” Aladdin admits. “You had good intentions, it seems. Besides, friends forgive friend when they make mistakes.”

“Wow,” Iago declares, shaking his head. “If I’d screwed thing sup for Jafar like this, he’d have roasted me alive! I guess there really is a difference between being a friend and being a minion.”

“I forgive you too, by the way,” Telary adds. “If that makes a difference.”

“You kidding, Tel?” Iago laughs, landing lightly on the wizard’s shoulder. “You’re my favorite guy! Nobody else lets me rest my wings and still see things from way high up.”

Everyone laughs at the statement, and even more at the sudden reddening of the wizard’s cheeks.

**KH-KH-KH**

The journey down through the ziggurat is fraught with danger, but the group is conscientious of making sure they’re effectively utilizing their time. As they go, they pass some seriously disturbing statues of Amuk Moonrah. In one hall a few levels down the pyramid, Azlyn stops to closely examine one after an Air Soldier attack.

The demon lord was huge and muscled, towering over everyone even in his smallest stature. Black horns sprouted from his forehead, and he wore a goatee rather similar to Genie and Jafar’s.

“No wonder the people rebelled,” the knight notes caustically. “Probably the sculptors lead the charge when they got tired of copying that ugly mug.”

Sora is just about to remind the knight that they shouldn’t be wasting precious time when the ceiling collapses. Not all of it, but several chunks of grey stone fall from above. Luckily, everyone manages to avoid it.

“I guess Heartless weren’t enough,” Sora says with a frown. “He had to set some traps along the way.”

“Let’s go show him what happens when you mess with us!” Aladdin declares, and the trio follow him down.

They finally arrive in what has to be the appointed chamber. It’s at least as big as the Agrabah palace garden, though much emptier. In a lot of ways, it reminds Telary of an eerie version of the Disney Castle audience chamber. At the far end is a smaller scale version of the ziggurat itself, a throne perched atop it.

Luxord sits in that throne, the lamp gripped loosely in his hand. Upon seeing the arrived heroes, he smirks.

“Ah, it seems you’ve made it,” he says, standing up. “Good show, Sora. Not that I made it terribly difficult for you.”

“Yeah, that was nothing!” the Keybearer boasts. “Now hand over the lamp, or…”

“But you’ve not yet completed my challenge,” the Nobody interrupts. “I said you had to face the foes inside this structure.” He takes several slow steps down the throne platform, leaving Jafar’s lamp in the seat. “And there’s still one more.”

Luxord raises his fingers and snaps. Sora hears his companions shout, turning just in time to see a huge playing cards appear, separating them from Sora. The cards vanish, and so too the Keybearer’s allies.

“Do let’s finish this quickly,” Luxord says, reaching the ground floor. “My mastery over the element of Time is limited.”

He thrusts his hand upwards, and the sound of stone crumbling directs Sora’s attention upwards. The ceiling quickly grows old and brittle, incapably of sustaining the weight above it. The boy just barely manages to roll away before he’s crushed.

“I’m mostly limited to controlling the effects of time on inanimate materials,” the Nobody continues to explain, collapsing still more sections of the ceiling. “Stone to dust, metal to rust and so on.”

Sora charges forward, but a giant playing card blocks his way. He strikes it in anger, flipping it over to reveal a flaming orb on its face. Without any other warning, the card explodes. The Keybearer gasps and backpedals, stumbling when the explosion’s force hits him.

“I manage to compensate with my card tricks, however,” Luxord says. “And occasionally the use of certain artifacts. Like, say, the Cornerstone of Light.”

“Cornerstone!” Sora blurts, dodging a diving swarm of razor-edged cards. “So, you mean…?”

“I provided the means for that oaf Pete to return to his glory days,” Luxord says, sending out another wave of cards. “More Heartless for the plan, you know. The Cornerstone is unique, connected to every second of its existence as if it were happening simultaneously. Do try not to think too hard on it, you may hurt yourself.”

Sora dodges a card, then turns to block another, only to face another explosion.

“Of course, I fear you’re about to find yourself hurting either way,”

Sora’s had enough dodging, instead opting for a sprinting charge. By the time he gets near Luxord, however, the Nobody is gone, leaving only six cards in his place. Confused, Sora swipes at one, only for it to flip and reveal an explosion.

“Bad luck there, Keybearer.”

The voice comes from behind, and Sora turns just in time to see Luxord swing a card the size of his forearm. It knocks into the boy’s middle, and he cries out and stumbles back. The Nobody goes for a follow-up swing, but by then he’s recovered enough to block it.

Sora ducks under a third swipe, knocking the Keyblade into his opponent’s side. Luxord cries out and steps back several paces, giving the boy a perfect opening to press. He attacks, but another explosion card intercepts. The burst of flame nearly singes Luxord as well, but he’s better able to prepare for it and back out of range.

Sora doesn’t allow himself to stumble nearly as much, pressing forward as soon as the fire fades. Luxord isn’t ready quite that quickly, taking another glancing blow as he attempts to sidestep.

Sora is about to move forward when another ceiling section falls, this one apparently more load-bearing than the rest. The entire chamber is shaking now, chunks of stone beginning to fall regardless of age. The _crunch_ of stone on stone startles him, but he quickly recovers, leaping at Luxord.

The Nobody reacts quickly, raising a card shield all around himself. It hardly matters though, the Keyblade slashing straight through them all. There’s a motionless second, then the two halves fall away and disappear.

Luxord kneels on the floor, a stricken look on his face. He looks into Sora’s eyes, and suddenly the boy feels an odd sympathy.

“You played well, I suppose,” the Nobody acknowledges. “But then, you always did.” He sighs, a regretful sound. “Why, Roxas?”

Those are his last words before his body fades into Darkness.

Sora stands still amidst the crumbling room, lost so deep in tough he hardly notices the deterioration all around him. Why does he suddenly, inexplicably feel so bad?

“Sora!” comes Aladdin’s voice from the entrance to the throne room. Looking up, Sora spots the former street rat, riding the carpet towards him. Iago flies by his side. “C’mon, the others are already outside.”

Sora nods and rushes towards the safety of Carpet. He leaps on quickly, and Carpet turns on a dime and shoots upward. The ziggurat is crumbling, but Carpet expertly dodges around debris until they manage to escape.

**KH-KH-KH**

Jasmine and the sultan are ecstatic when Carpet touches down in the royal audience camber of Agrabah’s palace. It’s lined with royal columns, and the sultan’s throne resembles a golden elephant head.

“Things were a little different than expected,” Aladdin admits. “But we’re all okay.”

“And best of all, no more lamp,” Azlyn adds. “Unless somebody wants to go digging around in the crumbling remains of that demon lord palace.”

“Well,” Iago speaks up, drawing all eyes to him. When they see that the parrot has Jafar’s lamp clutched in his talons, they all gasp in shock.

“Iago, why didn’t you leave that thing in there?” Aladdin yells. “You can’t expect to be our friend if you keep…”

“Jafar told me to!” Iago blurts, nearly in tears. “As soon as I saw it, I heard him whispering, telling me to grab the lamp and free him. I tried to fight it, but…”

“You _can_ fight it, Iago!” Sora declares, his tone steady and strong. “Put the lamp down, and we’ll get rid of it. You’ll never have to do what Jafar says again.”

Iago’s face is a rictus of pain, fighting against his former master’s mental commands clearly taking a toll on him. The others watch him closely, all of them hoping that he can do it.

Finally, after a long minute, he does. The black lamp falls from his talons to the floor.

“Everybody step back!” Genie declares, striding through the room in full hazmat suit. Using a pair of tongs, he slowly lifts the lamp. “Time to say goodbye to you for good!”

He poofs out, and then before the smoke can fade he’s back, sans suit. “It’s taken care of, guys.”

“What did you do with it?” Azlyn asks.

“Dropped it in the ocean,” Genie replies. “Good luck getting that sucker now. Anyway, aren’t we supposed to be having a party?”

The entire room is consumed by light, and when it fades, decorations abound in the large room. Streamers hang from column to column, tables full of snacks are all across the floor, and everyone wears little party hats. Anachronistic rock music pumps into the room from seemingly nowhere.

“You did well, Iago,” Telary says after everyone’s over the shock of the sudden party appearance.

“Like a real champ,” Azlyn adds, grinning a rare grin at the parrot.

“Oh, well,” Iago replies, shrugging from his seat on Telary’s shoulder. “I couldn’t let Jafar ever hurt my friends again, could I?”

“And congratulations are due to you two too,” Sora says to Aladdin and Jasmine, giving both of them a smile. “Taking the big next step, huh?”

“Yep,” Aladdin agrees, putting his arm around his fiancée. “It took a long time to build up the nerve.”

“I thought he was going to pass out when he asked me,” Jasmine chimes in, smiling gently. “I’m so glad we’re finally moving forward.”

“I was glad when Tel and I did too,” Azlyn interjects. The Agrabah pair look between the two, a little shocked.

“You two are engaged too?” Jasmine blurts.

“What!” Azlyn begins coughing and spluttering. Beside her, Telary does the same.

“No, that’s no…” the wizard attempts to clarify. “We aren’t... I mean, we’re nowhere near ready to…”

“I dunno,” Aladdin says. “When you think about it, whether you were a couple the entire time or not, haven’t you guys really had all your lives to get to know each other.”

“I’d do almost anything for that kind of connection to Aladdin,” Jasmine agrees. “Of course, now we have the chance for just that.”

Azlyn and Telary are both silent, each trying to come up with a counterargument and failing. Luckily, they’re saved by the sudden arrival of Genie.

“So, I’m your Best Man, right?” the big blue lug asks, leaning in close to his former master with a hopeful look. Aladdin doesn’t even get the chance to speak before he continues. “I swear to you, Al, I’ll be the greatest Best Man ever seen in this or any world. In fact, how about a little preview?”

Genie zips out of the room and into the open Agrabah air, everyone following him out onto the balcony. Fireworks suddenly ignite over the city, their bright colors awe-inducing.


	44. Another Name

“Nothing, nothing, and _nothing_!” Azlyn grumbles, slumping down in her seat. The vastness of Gummi space rests outside the cockpit window, and as far as the trio knows, Organization XIII’s stronghold could be anywhere out there.

“Things do seem kind of bleak,” Telary admits. “We’ve taken down two more Organization members, but neither of them gave up their base’s location.”

“Well, I would’ve asked them,” Sora states sulkily, “but I was kind of a little busy fighting for my life.”

“I know that, Sora, of course I do,” the wizard says, hands out in a placating gesture. “But the long and short of it is, we’re out of leads. Might as well pick a random direction and start flying.”

Azlyn reaches underneath her chair and releases its position lock with a _snap_. The noise draws the attention of the boys, who look at her with puzzled expressions. The knight doesn’t seem to notice, drawing one leg up to her chest and resting the other on the floor. Her chair twitches left, then right. The necessary momentum achieved, she pushes off against the floor as hard as she can.

Her chair spins round and round. About two revolutions in she sticks out her arm, pointer finger extended. The boys watch as her madcap spin continues for a long minute.

When she finally slows down, the girl opens her eyes, intensely scrutinizing the empty space outside the window.

“That way,” she declares with woozy confidence.

Silence.

“What?” she explodes in protest glaring at her companions. “You said to pick a random direction, so I just…”

“Oh, very funny Azlyn,” Sora deadpans, arms crossed sternly over his chest. “Seriously, have you ever thought about a career in comedy, because…”

“Well, I don’t see you offering any…”

“That’s because _I_ would rather do something actually, y’know, _helpful_ , instead of just messing around and…”

“Enough!” Telary yelps, raising his hands for quiet. His younger companions cease bickering, but their icy glares remain. “Clearly, we’re kind of on edge here. Mostly it’s because we think we’re getting nowhere…”

“Think?” Sora scoffs. “I hate to break it to you Tel, but we _are_ nowhere.”

“Literally,” Azlyn adds with a gesture at the vastness of space. She and Sora exchange quick glances and small smiles, their standard nonverbal apology.

“Yeah, fine, we _are_ getting nowhere,” Telary admits tersely. Great, now _he’s_ the exasperated one. “But I also think we’ve been all go-go-go since we took off from Hollow Bastion. Maybe we just need a little time to settle, get our heads on straight.”

“I actually think that’s a pretty good idea,” Sora admits, nodding as he thinks it all over. “And I’d be lying if I said I’m not still kinda worried about Leon and Aerith and the others. We kinda left them in a hurry last time.”

“Going to Hollow Bastion for a vacation?” Azlyn says, leaning back in her chair as Telary powers up for the flight. “Yeah, that really sounds like something that’s gonna work out good.”

**KH-KH-KH**

If there’s one thing Azlyn loves (other than Telary, munny, and violence), it’s saying “I told you so”. And yet, somehow, the knight manages to refrain when the trio teleport into the borough in the midst of a Heartless attack.

The little buggers seem to be everywhere, several men and women in guard uniforms doing their best to fight them off. And oddly enough, they seem to be the variety present in the world of Ansem's computer.

“What is going on here?” Telary asks, obviously not expecting an answer from either of his equally clueless companions. Still, some things you just _have_ to say in a situation like this.

“The usual,” Sora sighs, Keyblade already in hand. He immediately charges into the nearest fray, getting the drop on a pair of Strafers. A Magnum Loader zooms by and he makes a cursory swipe at it, but the creature leans left to dodge. Seconds later, a fireball from Telary scorches it out of existence.

Azlyn kicks away a pair of glowing Soldiers, leaping forward afterwards to slice through a Strafer with her shield’s edge. That taken care of, she spins to finish off the Soldiers, a move interrupted when a claymore laser bursts out of the ground at her feet.

“Aaaaargh!” the knight cries out as she flies several feet into the air, a sharp pain exploding across her back. The magic of her clothes manages to diffuse most of the heat, but it still feels like being poked with a twenty-foot long pool cue.

“Azlyn!” Telary yelps, frying three Strafers with lightning as he rushes to catch his girlfriend. He barely makes it, getting his arm under her just in time to lessen her impact against the ground. But it still throws him off balance, and the pair hit the street together.

Three Magnum Loaders take advantage of the golden opportunity, zooming toward the fallen heroes. Sora, occupied with a group of Strafers and Surveillance Robots about twelve feet away, can only watch from the corner of his eye. He quickly surges against his opponents, but he knows the chances of him making it in time to help his friends are terrible.

He needn’t worry, a small round object slipping past his occupied gaze. It hurtles through the air for another few seconds before making a dive, knocking directly into the spinning wheel of the leftmost Magnum Loader. The creature isn’t ready for the friction the impact creates, swerving sharply to the right and hitting the Heartless next to it, which lurches to the side as well, knocking down the third.

Its job done, the little orb (a baseball with an antenna protruding from it) reverses course, landing neatly into a baseball glove attached at the end of an odd-looking launcher resting comfortably in the hands of Phineas Flynn-Fletcher.

“Nice one, Phin!” Yuffie congratulates the young boy, leaping down from her position atop a nearby roof. As the ninja drops, she reaches into her pockets and draws out three shuriken. She flings them as soon as her feet hit stone, cutting into Sora’s opponents and giving the Keybearer an easy opportunity to finish them off.

“Yuffie, what is happening?” he asks, looking over to see Azlyn and Telary rising into standing positions.

“Bad stuff, man,” Yuffie replies, backflipping out of the way of a claymore’s upward burst. “Cid’s at Merlin’s, he can explain it better than I can. You better get over there right away, I got things taken care of here.”

Sora wants to argue, but has realized by now that, for whatever reason, these Heartless won’t just stop coming like they usually do. This is a problem that needs to be cut off at the source. So with a heavy heart, he gestures for Azlyn and Telary to join him.

They meet Phineas and Ferb at the end of the street, the boys using their remote-controlled baseballs to keep Heartless off balance. It strikes Sora as an odd choice of weaponry, but nevertheless seems effective.

The trio rush through the streets, passing conflict everywhere they go. They stop and help where they can, ending up on Merlin’s street in minutes.

Quistis stands outside the wizard’s house, her whip cracking through the air and driving off any Strafer or Magnum Loader that gets too close.

“Thank goodness!” the guard captain exclaims upon seeing the trio beginning to help mop up the Heartless. “I knew it was only a matter of time before you guys showed up!” A claymore attempts to explode beneath her, but she manages to dart to the side. “Get inside, Cid’ll explain everything!”

“But these Heartless!” Telary protests, frying two Strafers with one fireball. It does little, however, to even the odds.

Especially once the Devastator arrives. Azlyn rushes it, but with one nigh-negligent swipe of its huge leg it knocks her aside.

Which is actually more beneficial than might be though, as it’s at that moment LeBlanc emerges from Merlin’s house with a Gummi ship cannon.

“Fire in the hole!” the wealthy woman declares, firing off a rocket. Everyone gasps and dives away as it impacts against the huge Heartless, reducing it to bits and bytes. “Come along now, everyone inside.”

They all follow her commands, rushing inside to the relative safety of Merlin’s home. Cid sits in front of the computer terminal at the back wall, furiously typing something on the keyboard. Merlin stands a ways off, eyeing the blond engineer’s efforts with blatant distrust. When he sees that Sora and companions have arrived, he grins.

“Oh, marvelous!” the wizard exclaims, practically leaping into the air. “What fortuitous timing you three lads have!”

“I’m a girl,” Azlyn interjects. “How have you not gotten this by now?”

“Knew ya’d show up eventually,” Cid declares, turning to regard the trio. “Always do, when there’s trouble afoot. Like clockwork.”

“Speaking of work, you might want to keep going on yours,” Quistis reminds the older man. “That program is kind of important.”

Cid grumbles something surly and unintelligible, turning back to the computer screen.

“Well, I guess that confirms my suspicions,” Telary says, approaching Cid and looking over his shoulder. “The MCP is somehow transferring Heartless from the digital world into the real one, right?”

“Oh, it’s more than that I’m afraid,” Quistis explains, frowning sourly. “The MCP somehow managed to hack pretty much all of the town’s systems.”

Telary matches the woman’s grimace with one of his own. “Must have found that I/O Tower we moved.” Sora and Azlyn nod behind the wizard, although neither really understand what he’s saying.

“But thanks to Ciddy’s brilliant idea, we’ve managed to keep this terminal free of MCP influence,” LeBlanc brags, running a hand along Cid’s back. The man shudders at the touch, momentarily halting his work. “He’s working on a program to eradicate that nasty thing too. Oh, he’s so smart I could just…”

“Woman!” Cid exclaims, shooting his admirer a perturbed glare. LeBlanc backs off slightly, rolling her eyes as if the engineer had just called her by an affectionate nickname.

“I told you all that this newfangled technology would be our downfall!” Merlin announces. “But did anyone listen?”

They did not, and to all appearances they still aren’t now.

“Where are Leon and Aerith?” Azlyn asks, glancing around the safehouse.

“They went over to check out Ansem's computer,” Quistis answers. “Leon was the one who found out about the Heartless being materialized.”

“Then they might have heard something from Tron,” Sora hopefully suggests.

“Actually, according to their last message, they ain’t been able to communicate with Tron at all,” Cid says.

“Probably the MCP put him in the Game Grid,” Telary suggests, worry and sadness heavy in his voice.

“Game Grid?” Phineas asks.

“Trust me, they aren’t fun games.”

“We’ve gotta get to the digitizer,” Sora declares, slamming his fist into his open palm. “I don’t like the idea of Tron being all alone in there. Especially if we can’t communicate with him.”

“Won’t be long before the eradication program’s finished,” Cid assures the Keybearer. “Once you get Tron all sorted out, head for the main I/O Tower. We’ll have to upload the program at the source, so make sure you’re there to receive it instead of the MCP’s goons.”

“And you’re sure this building is secure?” Telary asks.

“As anywhere is in this town,” Quistis answers, one hand on her whip. Behind her, LeBlanc raises her rocket launcher to emphasize the point.

“Okay,” Sora says, giving everyone one last look. “We’ll head up to the castle now then. Good luck everybody!”

“You too kid,” Cid says as the trio make their way to the door. “You too.”

**KH-KH-KH**

The path to the castle is naturally long, grueling, and fraught with danger. The Hollow Bastion Guard Corps lends them as much help as possible, but they mostly have their hands full guarding the citizenry.

Eventually the trio make it through to the castle, cutting through the library to the secret elevator to Ansem's study. All three heroes are rather nervous, the attack and Tron’s current status weighing heavily on their minds.

Which is how the Gullwings manage to startle them so badly.

“Watch it!” Rikku yelps, half fright and half anger. It’s quite justified, considering the fireball Telary just hurled at her and her friends. “Geeze, we’re not gonna hurt you.”

“Even though you’re all a bunch of liars,” Yuna interjects. She looks mad, but on her tiny face it just seems cute. “Leon doesn’t have any treasure, and Merlin hasn’t done a thing to change us back!”

“We thought you three were some kind of heroes,” Paine adds. “But seems to _us_ like your words really don’t mean anything.”

“Hey now,” Sora protests, hands raised in surrender, “we never _actually_ promised you guys anything. I just said that Leon needed help.”

“And I…” Azlyn chimes in, thinking for a moment. Finally she sighs. “Okay, I actually _did_ lie to you about the treasure.”

“At some point saying ‘I told you so’ just becomes tacky,” Telary mutters to himself, recalling his earlier warnings about this exact situation.

“This is, obviously, quite unforgivable,” Yuna says, shaking her head like a disappointed mother. “I don’t see how we’re going to work this out.”

“Well, we can’t right now!” Sora protests. “I don’t know if you three have noticed, but the town is kind of under attack at the moment!”

“Oh, this place is _always_ under attack!” Rikku points out, shrugging. “It’s like ya can’t sneeze around here without thirty Heartless showing up to say ‘bless you’.”

“Doesn’t make me very confident in our leaders,” Paine deadpans.

“And, if I recall, you three were perfectly content to swindle _us_ during a rather major event,” Yuna declares, shrugging as if this is all so very sensible and the trio are somehow being unreasonable. “Now, if you’ll excuse us.”

The tiny ladies huddle together, whispering animatedly and occasionally glancing back at the trio. They certainly look pleased with themselves once they finally break away from their conference.

“We’ve just decided that we’re going to take all of _your_ treasure!” Yuna cheerily announces.

“Over my dead body!” Azlyn roars, drawing her shield. The boys express disapproval as well, though their protests are quite obviously drowned out.

“We really don’t have much in the way of treasure, I’m afraid,” Telary speaks up, nudging aside his nigh-incoherent girlfriend. “And we just didn’t have time to talk to Merlin about changing you three back.”

“ _And_ the town is in really deep danger,” Sora adds. “Plus, one of our friends is missing, and that means he’s probably in trouble. Please, just let us get to the computer room.”

The Gullwings look the trio over once more, then dive right back into a huddle. The discussion is much more heated this time, and it seems like Paine and Rikku are trying to team up against Yuna.

Azlyn looks around all the while, shamefully hoping that perhaps a Heartless will show up and emphasize their current urgency. Unfortunately, none oblige.

It takes little over a minute for the Gullwings to reach consensus, but to Sora, Azlyn, and Telary it seems a lifetime.

“Alright,” Yuna sighs. Behind her, Rikku and Paine are giving the trio dirty looks. “We’ve agreed to let you pass without incident. When the current crisis is over, however…”

“We’ll work something out,” Sora promises, ignoring Azlyn affronted look. “I really am sorry about tricking you guys.”

“I am too,” Telary agrees.

Azlyn rolls her eyes. “Yeah, so sorry. Can we go now?”

“Go on ahead,” Paine says, waving vaguely at the entrance to the castle’s secret tunnels.

“Don’t die!” Rikku cheerfully offers. “Otherwise we’ll never get paid back!”

With that odd bit of encouragement, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary take off for Ansem's study. Unlike the castle above, there are a few Strafers and Cannon Guns wandering around the underground corridors, but nothing too challenging.

“There’s the study,” Sora declares, huffing out a breath after cleaving a Strafer in two. “I hope Leon and Aerith are in there.”

“Guys!” Leon’s familiar voice calls. The trio turn to see him standing in the door to the study, gunblade in hand. A Surveillance Robot appears from nowhere and dives at him, but he casually slashes it in two pieces. “Thank goodness you’re here.”

Sora leads the way into the study. Aerith is in there as well, smiling at them from her position by the door to the computer room.

“I told Leon you’d show up eventually,” she declares, playfully poking her more serious friend. “You always do. We figured that you’d need access to this room if you wanted to talk to Tron.”

“I assume you checked in with Cid?” Leon asks, immediately getting to the point as the group makes their sojourn into the computer room. “Everyone is still safe?”

“He thinks the Eradicator should be finished any time now,” Telary reports.

“And I’m pretty sure that between Merlin’s magic and LeBlanc’s rocket launcher, they’re gonna be A-OK,” Azlyn jokingly adds.

“You’re sure you can’t get through to Tron?” Sora asks, eyeing the huge red digitizer staring down at them like some massive beast’s eye.

Leon shrugs. “Truth be told, without Cid or Phineas and Ferb, I’m not too sure _how_ exactly we would do that.”

“It’s probably best if we just go in and talk to him ourselves,” Sora offers.

“Going in makes the most sense anyway,” Telary points out as he heads for the main console. It reads ‘ **IGNORANT USERS, OBEY THE MCP** ’ in a window, but the wizard just rolls his eyes and drags it to the side. “When it comes to the MCP, I think a direct approach is the surest bet.”

“Right on!” Azlyn agrees, affectionately thumping her counterpart on the back. He winces at the unexpected force of it.

“Being with Azlyn is really influencing you, isn’t it Telary?” Aerith giggles. She gives Azlyn a quick, indecipherable look. “Just make sure it doesn’t happen _too_ much.”

“Anyway,” Leon interjects pointedly, “when you find Tron…”

“Take him to the I/O Tower,” Sora finishes, gesturing for Telary to start booting up the digitizing process. “Cid gave us the whole story.”

“Alright then,” Leon says with a nod, stepping back to avoid being digitized himself. “Good luck guys.”

“We’re rooting for you!” Aerith adds.

The trio have just enough time for a grateful nod before the bright light of digitization sweeps over them.

**KH-KH-KH**

“What’s the status on that program, Cid?” Quistis asks as she and Yuffie work together to slam the door to Merlin’s home shut. The Strafers outside pound on it for a few seconds, before the magical flame-trap Merlin set up explodes and takes them both with it.

“He’s doing the best he can!” LeBlanc declares defensively.

 “Well, it’d be a lot further along if I didn’t have to stop and answer questions about it every damn minute!” the engineer shoots back. “And I think the old loon’s magic is messing with the operatin’ system!”

“Don’t go whining just because you can’t type as fast as you used to!” Yuffie admonishes him.

“I offered to help,” Phineas sighs, looking uncharacteristically annoyed. Ferb says nothing, only blinks with his usual nonchalance. Perry rests on the floor beside them, looking lazy and contented.

“Yes,” LeBlanc snarls at Yuffie, “if only his fingers worked as quickly as your mouth.”

“ _Old_ loon you say?” Merlin huffs indignantly, reaching into the sleeve of his robe to grab his wand. Some insults just cannot be ignored.

“Okay, okay…” Cid mutters, putting on the finishing touches. He just needs another few seconds to add in something Tron will certainly find useful…

 “Seriously, people, we are in _crisis_ mode,” Quistis continues, unaware that she’s being thoroughly ignored.

“I’ll show you who’s old!” Merlin draws his wand back, magic gathering at its tip.

“Finished!” Cid triumphantly exclaims, halting all the arguments around the room. The terminal’s disc drive whirs, depositing a purple and yellow CD-ROM. Cid reaches for it, very much pleased with himself.

Before he can grab it, however, Merlin’s magical insult retaliation crashes into the computer console, throwing up a shower of sparks. Cid yelps and leaps away from his smoking terminal, and the CD goes flying through the air as well.

Quistis and Yuffie both gasp and leap for the flying disc, but they only succeed in smashing into each other. With twin grunts of pain and surprise, the young women collapse on the floor. LeBlanc heads for Cid instead of the disc, cradling the cranky engineer in her arms. Merlin, of course, merely takes the whole thing in with a satisfied smirk.

Phineas goes for the disk, jumping with his arm outstretched, but it’s still too high in the air. He stumbles and falls to the floor, inadvertently getting mixed into the Quistis-Yuffie pile. Ferb was pushed back by Phineas’s jump, running into the wall just enough to mildly daze him. The Eradicator disc continues its fall, heading for the floor and possible oblivion.

Until Perry takes action, darting forward and leaping mightily with all four legs. Once in the air, he opens his beak and neatly clamps his jaws around Hollow Bastion’s last best hope. Small blue sparks, nearly invisible to the naked eye, play along its surface for a brief moment.

“Wow,” Yuffie remarks, staring along with everyone else at Perry and the Eradicator disc. “I thought you said platypuses don’t do much, Phin.”

“Most don’t,” the boy replies, reaching over and ruffling his good friend’s head-fur. “I guess we just got lucky when we picked you, huh Perry?”

“Well, if that’s all,” Quistis says, rising from the floor and brushing off her skirt, “I’ve gotta get this to Leon.”

The guard captain leans down and grabs the CD from Perry’s mouth, who obligingly unclenches his jaws from around it. She wipes it off once on her jacket, then takes off out the door without another word. Yuffie quickly rises and follows her, just in case.

“This had better work,” Merlin remarks, swinging his house’s door closed.

Cid opens his mouth for a retort, but LeBlanc beats him to it. “Well, if it doesn’t, it’s only because of _your_ magic, you daft old man!”

Merlin’s mustache curls with anger, and he waves his wand in the air once again. “Well, it seems my lesson on respect didn’t take!”

The wizard prepares another spell, but before he can cast it LeBlanc reaches out and snatches his wand right out of his hand. The magic in it dies in a fizzle of blue sparks, leaving only a thick wooden stick.

“Oh, there’s a lesson to be learned here, alright!” With a fire in her eyes that nicely compliments the flames now bursting out of Cid’s blasted terminal, LeBlanc hauls off and knocks Merlin in the head with his own wand.

“Ow!” The wizard raises his arms to shield his face, just in time for another conk. “I say, Miss… Yeowch!”

With no other recourse, Merlin turns and runs away, only for LeBlanc to follow right on his heels, still wildly swinging his wand at him. Cid rises to his feet as he watches the chase, pulling a cigar out of his pants’ pocket and lighting it on the flames of his computer.

“Man,” he softly declares, half to Phineas and Ferb but mostly to himself. He places the cigar in his mouth and takes a puff, holding the smoke in a moment before blowing it out. “I never really noticed it before but… What a woman!”

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora immediately summons the Keyblade once the digitization’s light fades, recalling quite clearly their rude and unwelcome appearance in the game grid last visit.

But there’s nothing there to react to. Looking around, the trio instantly recognize the barren halls of the prison they’d been thrown into during their first trip. The place they’d met Tron. All of the pit cells are open, save one directly underneath the control/monitoring booth at the far end.

“Is this where we wanted to go?” Azlyn asks, looking around cautiously.

“It’s the most reliable entry port,” Telary explains, his uneasiness apparent as always. “Of course, I’m not exactly sure how we’re supposed to get anywhere from here. Maybe a hangar with some more of those Recognizers…”

“Whatever,” Sora huffs impatiently. “Just as long as we find Tron as soon as possible. I’m still worried that…”

“OH, YOU NEEDN’T.”

“Sark!” the Keybearer exclaims, swinging his weapon for emphasis as he casts his gaze around the corridor. The voice is amplified, seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

“TRON IS PERFECTLY WELL, USER,” Sark continues. Up above the trio, the “glass” of the control booth flicks into a viewscreen. Sark stands before an orange wall, smirking as he looks down upon his User enemies.

“What did you do with him?” Sora demands.

“WHY DON’T YOU GO ON AND SEE FOR YOURSELF?”

With a whoosh, the closed cell door at the end of the hallway slides open. Worry for their friend overtakes the trios’ caution, and they all rush forward to see what exactly Sark is talking about.

The cell is larger than the one they’d previously stayed in, with a wide window overlooking the vast field containing hundreds upon hundreds of similar blocks. But no one spares a second to glance outside the window, too focused on what’s in front of them.

Tron, strapped to the cell wall in the traditional crucifixion pose. His body is limp and lifeless, his head bowed.

“Tron!” Sora cries, rushing to his friend. He lifts up the security program’s head, but what he sees only further horrifies him. “No. No, this can’t…”

“Oh, no,” Telary whispers in utter shock.

“Shit…” Azlyn breathes.

Tron’s face is gone, replaced by smooth, light blue blankness.

“Warning: System Threat Detected,” a hollow, inflectionless voice buzzes from the void. It’s Tron’s voice, but lifeless, devoid of anything that makes up Tron. “Anomaly Has Entered System. Pursue Anomaly Correction, Y/N?”

“The MCP, naturally, wanted to de-rezz him immediately,” Sark cuts in, his image blinking into existence upon the window pane. Sora turns from the horror of Tron’s emptiness, right into the rigidly cruel eyes of his enemy. “He concealed the DTD password right up until the end, but once we had him it was a simple matter of sifting through the data. He managed to erase several functions that would have been quite useful: the castle self-destruct, the town floodgates.

“But, luckily for us he wasn’t even aware of the Heartless machine. User Ansem never deigned to share its existence with either of us, but the MCP knew all about it. Once we had a way to activate it, the process was simple, as was hacking the claymore defense system. Not surprising, considering it was devised by actual _children_.”

“So, what did you do to him after you got what you wanted?” Azlyn demands. “Why is he…?”

“A hard reset of his memory and functions,” the evil program explains, smirking. “I realized that I was too lenient with my last attempt. His backup has been expunged as well, erased from all existence. There is _no_ way to restore him. Though not de-rezzed, for all intents and purposes, Tron is, as Users would say, dead. Such is the fate of all who oppose the MCP. End of line.”

Sark’s image disappears, returning the peaceful, faraway image of the cell blocks. The silence that rushes in to fill the small cell is deafening, the trio all too overwhelmed to speak.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Sora asks, holding back a tidal wave of emotion.

“We’ve gotta delete that MCP once and for all!” Azlyn declares, slamming her fist against the window. Despite the tough digital material, cracks spiderweb around the point of impact.

“Yeah!” Sora agrees with an aggressive nod. “We just need to find a way out of here, get to the I/O Tower, and pick up Cid’s program.”

Telary grimaces, raising a hand. “I’m actually not sure how exactly that would work. I took a quick look at the Eradicator program while we were at Merlin’s, and Cid’s got it tailored specifically to Tron. And, to be honest, I’m not sure if we could access its functions at all since we’re not programs.”

Sora sighs, sinking to the floor with his head bowed. All the emotion he’d been holding back is let loose. He tips his head back to rest against the wall, turning slightly to face the still-horrifying tableau of Tron’s limp body.

“Aw, Tron,” the Keybearer sighs, a few slightly glowing tears spilling over onto his cheeks. “Why did we just leave you in here, all alone? You had to know Sark would find you eventually.”

“There was nothing we could have done, Sora,” Telary tries, patting his young friend’s shoulder sympathetically. Azlyn clings to his other arm, her gaze locked on Tron. “Tron did what he knew was right, staying behind to keep the MCP too busy to threaten the town.”

“He was a good guy,” Azlyn speaks up, brushing her hand against the security program’s chest. “Even when all he did was rattle off percentages.”

“He was our friend,” Sora concurs, standing shakily. He places both hands on Tron’s shoulders, looking into the smooth plane were his eyes once were. “He was our friend.”

The others nod, also placing their hands on their fallen comrade. Slowly, all three come together to rest where, were he a human being of flesh and blood, Tron’s heart would be. They step closer, nearly embracing the program.

“We’re gonna figure this out, Tron,” Sora promises, setting his face into its most resolute expression. “We’ll stop the MCP somehow, for you. I know we will.”

“It’s just like we told you,” Telary finishes. “You have to have hope.”

And then, something happens.

Light, pure white brightness, glows beneath the trio’s hands. Startled, they back away, eyes fixed upon the ever growing luminescence. The light extends throughout Tron’s body, sending pulsing waves through his circuit lines.

“What’s going on?” Sora asks, looking to Telary for some sort of proper technobabble explanation or speculation.

“I… I don’t know,” the wizard admits, tilting his head to regard the ever-brighter Tron.

Finally the light is too bright to look at, and the heroes turn their faces away to avoid blindness. Hands rise to cover their eyes, but ringing in their ears they all hear a clear sound, like a choir softly singing…

“S-Sora?” a weak voice calls out. It’s rough and crackly, like a man who’s been lost in the desert without water for days. “Sora, Azlyn, Telary?”

The light fades, and the trio lower their hands to gaze upon the sight before them: Tron, face and all.

“Tron!” Sora cries out happily. He rushes forward, flinging his arms around his restored friend. Azlyn and Telary follow suit, all three happily exclaiming their joy. “You’re okay.”

“Uh, I feel fine,” Tron replies. His voice has regained strength and clarity, though confusion spikes through it as well. “Is there a reason you three have your arms around me? Am I leaking data?”

The trio laugh as they back away, laughter that grows louder and more boisterous as they notice the perplexed look on Tron’s returned face.

“You’re okay, Tron,” Sora reassures his digital friend. “We just thought we lost you and, well…”

“We were hugging you,” Telary explains, making sure to be clear and concise. “It’s something Users do when they feel powerful emotions towards one another. Sometimes we hug because we’re happy, or-” he has to pause here swallow the hitch in his throat, “-because we’re sad to say goodbye.”

“We thought we lost you, Tron!” Azlyn exclaims happily. “You, you had no face and…”

The security program nods. “Yes, it’s coming back to me now. Sark and the MCP wanted the new password to access the DTD. I resisted giving it to them, but then Sark suggested they take it… Take it the hard way.” Tron blinks, his lips pursed in thought. “But they’d have to comb my data to do that, and there’s only a point zero-zero-zero-three chance that wouldn’t corrupt my memory.”

“Sark said something about resetting you,” Sora chimes in. “It was… It was horrible Tron, seeing you like that.”

“But you’re back now!” Azlyn declares.

“But how?” Tron wonders, shaking his head. “This just isn’t logical. A hard reset would have purged my memory completely.”

“I don’t think there’s an explanation, Tron,” Telary chimes in sagely. “At least none that you would understand, frankly.”

“This didn’t have anything to do with codes or bytes, Tron,” Sora picks up, smiling brilliantly at his friend. “This was all about you and us. Being friends.”

“Alright,” Tron agrees, nodding once resolutely. He turns his head to regard the fact that his wrists are still magnetized to the wall. “Would you three mind, uh, getting me down from here?”

It takes only a simple tap on each wrist with the Keyblade to release Tron, Azlyn and Telary working together to make sure he doesn’t fall to the floor once he’s free.

“Okay,” the security program says, rubbing the armor of his wrists slightly. “I assume you three are here because you have a way to defeat the MCP?”

Sora nods. “Yeah, Cid made this program that he says can de-rezz the MCP. They’re gonna upload it to the I/O Tower, so we need to get there and make sure Sark’s Heartless don’t intercept it.”

“I saw the Recognizer hangar coming in,” Tron announces. “We can take one of those and be at the I/O Tower in no time at all.” He thrusts his fists in the air, smiling widely. “Let’s do this!”

“Man, Tron,” Azlyn giggles, the boys also tittering behind her, “you sure bounce back fast, dontcha?”

The group exits the cell, headed for the Recognizer hangar. In his heart, Telary hopes they can find one with weapons this time.

“One question,” Tron speaks up as they enter the hangar. There are only two Recognizers inside, one obviously an older model and the other more upgraded. Naturally the quartet make for the newer. “Who exactly is this Cid?”

“He’s a friend of ours in the outside world,” Telary explains. “He’s really very smart, if kinda grumpy.”

“We’ve got a lotta friends out there,” Sora chimes in as they step up on the Recognizer’s cockpit platform. “Leon, Aerith, LeBlanc, Quistis, Phineas and Ferb… They’re all out there counting on us. And they were worried about you too, Tron, when they couldn’t contact you.”

“Worried about _me_?” Tron blurts, obviously quite stunned by the revelation. “I never knew I had so many User friends.”

“They’re counting on us,” Azlyn says, holding onto the nearest wall as Telary takes their ship into the air. “And we’re not gonna let them down.”

**KH-KH-KH**

Quistis and Yuffie quickly make their way through the Hollow Bastion library, unknowingly encountering a very different situation than Sora, Azlyn, and Telary did.

A Magnum Loader zooms straight ahead of Quistis, but she hears it in time to dodge. Lashing out with the heavy chains of her whip, she knocks the Heartless off-balance and sends it plummeting to the ground. Yuffie leaps over it, her giant shuriken held in one hand. At the top of her arc, she slashes the dark creature in half.

Two Strafers pop up near her landing spot, but she simply slashes her weapon left and right to dispose of them.

Surveillance Robots, red program lines running through them, hover before the elevator entrance. Quistis grunts and whips three out of the air at once, but more rise to take their place. The loud whine of lasers charging revs up, only dying out when a barrage of small shuriken tear them to shreds.

The elevator quickly moves down to the platform, where a battle is already taking place. The Gullwings face off against a huge purple Devastator. Rikku flits and zips through the air, making faces and shouting catcalls to keep the digital demon’s attention. Yuna has both her guns out and blazing, beating an annoying tattoo into its chassis. Paine dives in and out, her curved sword slashing.

“Well,” Yuffie says just before the elevator touches down, “I guess now I’ve really seen everything.”

“Here, here,” Quistis concurs, leaping away as the Devastator, alerted by the elevator’s noise, turns its nose-mounted cannon and fires out a shot of blue plasma.

It’s a nice distraction for Yuffie, who leaps up against the blue rock wall of the surrounding canyon, hurling her huge shuriken with mighty force. It pierces the creature’s armored shell, sticking into the air.

Quistis reaches out her right hand and concentrates. The guard captain is no wizard, but her during her training she’d made sure to have at least a spell or two handy. She’d insisted Leon did as well, but while the gunblade wielder had chosen fire, thunder was her element of choice.

A yellow lightning bolt crashes out of the sky, striking the shuriken and from there coursing down into the Devastator’s body. Everyone watches the process, but the results aren’t exactly what they might have predicted.

The glowing energy of the dispersed lightning bolt gathers into the Heartless’s laser cannon, lighting up its tip with bright white energy. Quistis’s eyes go wide, but that’s all she has time to do before the energy bolt fires off.

“Meega nala queesta!”

In a blur of motion, a small blue form leaps into the air in front of Quistis. The Devastator’s bolt slams into it, throwing up sparks and unleashing the terribly unpleasant smell of burnt hair.

For a moment it seems everything is paused, but it quickly passes and lets chaos unleash. Yuffie hurls more small shuriken at the Devastator, Yuna does a midair twist and starts firing off shots directly into is eyes, and Paine starts stabbing her blade in and out.

The attacks, small and annoying on their own but quite potent when unleashed all at once, stagger the Devastator, its large purple legs stumbling left and right. Quistis’s battle-honed reflexes take over, sending her charging forward. With a grunt of exertion, she slams the end of her whip down as hard as she can into the creature’s back.

The attack rends a huge tear in its shell, all attacks suddenly converging on the one spot. Whether it’s Yuna’s bullets, Paine’s sword, or Yuffie’s throwing stars, the Heartless falls in an explosion of bright particles.

The enemy felled, Quistis turns her attention in the direction of her savior. Upon getting a good look, she gasps: it’s the little blue creature, the one that had been plaguing the corridors beneath Hollow Bastion’s castle for weeks.

The koala-like creature groans, the light blue fur on its belly stained black. Looking up at Quistis, he lets out a small whimper.

“You saved me,” Quistis declares, picking the weird thing up and hugging him close to her chest. “I spend all my time chasing you around, and then you… Wait, you’re shaking! And, and making some kind of noise? Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think that’s quite it, Quis,” Yuffie points out, giggling into her hand.

“He looks pretty happy where he is,” Rikku chimes in, also barely suppressing her laughter.

Looking down at the fuzzy creature in her arms, Quistis notices the lecherous little smirk he’s wearing on his face. The creature snuggles in a little closer, eyebrows wiggling.

“Oh, gross,” the guard captain sighs, dropping her admirer unceremoniously to the ground. She turns to the other women on the platform, painfully aware of their amused laughter. “Really funny. Now c’mon, we’ve still got to get this program to Leon!”

She and Yuffie take off, racing through the corridors and into Ansem's computer room. Leon momentarily raises his gunblade at their arrival, but backs down once he recognizes who it is.

“You got it?” he asks eagerly.

“No,” Yuffie sarcastically replies, holding up the Eradicator disc. Quistis, who is sure she was the one who was carrying it, pats down her belt quickly. She doesn’t find anything else missing, but still spares a glare for the ninja.

Leon nods and hunches over the computer, quickly typing in a series of commands. Cid had given him a rundown on basic computer procedure before, and he hopes it’s enough.

“ **Warning** ,” the familiar emotionless voice of the MCP announces through the computer’s speakers. “ **User control is terminated indefinitely**.”

“Damn it!” the gunblade wielder grunts, slamming his gloved fist into the unresponsive machine. “It’s no good, I can’t access anything!”

“Well what do we do now?” Yuffie demands, grimacing. “C’mon Squall, think of something!”

“This really isn’t my area of expertise, Yuffie,” Leon shoots back. “Maybe we should call Cid or one of the kids, get them down here to…”

“Leon,” Aerith says, the one word spoken softly but still seeming to fill up the room. Everyone looks over to the young woman, her mouth set in a determined line. “Let me try.”

Leon opens his mouth to protest, but quickly realizes that he might as well let the healer try her hand at uploading the program. He trusts her with his life, why not this?

Aerith takes the disc in hand, turning it over as she saunters up to the computer. Specifically the raised slot for CD insertion.

“ **This is your final warning** ,” the MCP speaks up again, this time actually sounding a bit panicked. “ **Desist at once!** ”

“Hey, Mr. MCP,” Aerith retorts, placing a hand on her hip and raising the disc over the CD slot. “Bon apetit!” Without further ado or ceremony, she slots the Eradicator disc into the terminal.

“ **What are you loading?** ” the MCP demands, the panicky edge in its synthesized voice increasing. “ **What is this program?** ”

“Hey now,” Aerith responds, smirking triumphantly, “didn’t your motherboard ever tell you not to talk with your mouth full?”

**KH-KH-KH**

“To the left, to the left!” Sora cries out, basically directly into Azlyn’s ear, pointing in the indicated direction.

“Really?” the knight snarls back, adjusting the position of her gun with the console’s joysticks. “Because I thought all those blips appearing on the left side of the radar meant I should shoot to the _right_!”

It’s been a hectic few minutes for the trio and Tron, zipping through Space Paranoid’s airspace on their way to the I/O Tower. They hadn’t gotten far before more Recognizers had spotted them, and ever since it had been a chase. Luckily the newer Recognizer model they’d grabbed came equipped with its own defense cannon.

“It’s down there,” Tron informs Telary. It seems fairly obvious, since without Tron’s disguise protocols it simply looks like a long trapezoidal building with a tower sticking out of it. Telary, ever more gracious than his counterpart, merely nods in acknowledgement.

“Are you sure we’ll be able to land with these guys on our tail?” Sora asks Tron, momentarily turning away from his self-appointed role as Azlyn’s guidance software.

Tron shakes his head, moving toward a small console in the side of the cockpit. “Not a chance. Telary, bring us in as low as you can, then we’re going to have to jump for it.”

“Because this adventure just hasn’t been fun enough,” the pilot mutters as he dips in closer to the I/O Tower’s entrance.

Azlyn’s still determinately pounding away at the enemy vessels with her turret, and Sora basically has to wrench her away from the sticks.

“Wait, I can get one more!” she declares, holding on with all she’s got.

“Come on,” Sora orders with an accompanying pull. “It’s not an arcade game!”

With a grunt of annoyance, Azlyn relinquishes the control and vacates her chair. Telary’s out of his now as well, so the quartet had better jump soon if they don’t want to end up going down with their ship. Tron presses a button on his console, and the Recognizer’s cockpit lowers just enough to leave a gap they can jump through.

Peering through the open space, Sora guesses they’re still about twenty feet up. He opens his mouth to ask if this is safe or not, but Tron gives the signal before he can. The heroes jump, Users letting out cries of fear while their program fried remains stoic.

Telary raises his hand to cast Feather Fall, but by the time he’s got the spell in his mind they’re already touching down. The group tumbles to digital earth with grunts of shock, quickly diving into rolls to lessen the impact.

“Ow,” Sora groans, slowly rising to his feet. He turns to see if anyone else needs help, only to nearly collide with the already on-the-move Tron.

“Come on!” the program urges his User compatriots. He points to the sky, where a suddenly appearing column of light shine down directly on the I/O Tower’s highest point. “That should be User Cid’s Eradicator program.”

That in mind, the trio manage to rise and get in gear. They rush into the tower, finding its layout identical to before. A few Strafers appear and attack, but the group rushes on through the thicket. Sora and Azlyn take point, slashing through Heartless as they charge towards the communications room.

Once inside, Tron rushes to the room’s terminal and taps in a command. Light plays over the room’s entrance, and the next Heartless to rush it is zapped into oblivion.

“Well,” Azlyn notes, staring up at the hole in the high ceiling, “I think we’re in business.”

Light shines down on the circular platform in the middle of the room, casting it in a nigh-holy glow. Tron nods and steps towards it, slowly and reverently despite the urgent circumstances.

Once in the light, the security program reaches behind and pulls the Identity Disc off his back. Looking up, he takes the disc in both hands and holds it skyward. The light from above pulses gently, and the disc quickly rises up, vanishing into the hole in the ceiling.

“Uh, that’s gonna come back down again, right?” Sora asks in a soft whisper.

It does indeed, glowing with a new brightness. The disc drifts into Tron’s still raised hands as softly as a leaf on the breeze. The light from the sky fades, and the security program examines his weapon curiously.

“So, did it work?” Sora cautiously inquires.

Tron nods, reattaching the disc to his back. “It’s really quite something. There’s an upgrade in here for me, and flight routines for the Solar Sailer. Plus, something else I can’t quite define.”

Telary’s eyes go wide as he notices sparks playing across the Identity Disc. “Oh, wow. I think somehow Merlin put some of his magic in it!”

“That’s great!” Azlyn declares with a triumphant fist pump. Then she turns to her boyfriend, “That _is_ great, right?”

The wizard nods and presses a kiss to her cheek. “Sure is!”

“What was that you just did?” Tron asks, hopping down off the platform with a puzzled look. “Touching her face with yours?”

“Well,” Azlyn says slowly, making sure she can be heard over Telary’s awkward throat clearing. “To put it how you would understand, just think of it as, sort of _advanced_ hugging.”

“So, are we all set?” Sora asks, casting a semi-nervous glance to the still barricaded hallway.

“Like you Users say,” Tron replies, inputting some commands in the terminal, “we won’t know until we give it a try.”

“Pretty sure I’ve never said that in my life,” Azlyn muses. “But anyway, let’s go!”

The barrier drops and they rush into the hallway, Tron in the lead and saying something about a simulation hangar. Sora stops paying attention about halfway up the hall, when he happens to glance inside the tower’s foyer.

And the horde of Strafers within.

The quartet skid to a stop, eyeing up at least three dozen Heartless.

“The Solar Sailer hangar is at the other end of this hall,” Tron declares, pointing to a glowing red archway just past the tower entrance.

“Not the ideal position,” Azlyn notes as she unlimbers her shield.

“But, for us, also not an _unusual_ position,” Sora adds.

“Wait a moment,” Tron says, holding out his arm to keep the trio from charging. The Identity Disc glows brightly on his back, the rest of his body momentarily thrumming as well. “Sora, stand close to me.”

The Keybearer complies, as Tron leans back until he’s somehow sitting on thin air. Light glows in front of the security program, coalescing into the shape of two circular keyboards. He and Sora rise into the air, a circular platform beneath them.

“Running executable,” the program declares, his fingers moving quickly and confidently across his control panels. He and Sora rush forward, while around them the white light coalesces into thorny bits and bytes.

They spread around the duo, reaching out to cut into Strafers like hot knives through butter. Sora, sensation tingling through his arms, points the Keyblade and summon yet more bytes, shooting out like balls from the _Black Pearl_ ’s cannons.

Azlyn and Telary watch in awe as Sora and Tron use their bytes to clear the room. By now they’ve drifted into the center of the Heartless horde, surrounded on all sides.

“Alright, Sora,” Tron shouts over his shoulder, fingers somehow moving even faster than before. Red lines spread out from them, drifting back to form a large circle in front of Sora. “Access approved!”

Understanding instinctively, the Keybearer slams his hand down on the button before him.

Bits and bytes of light explode outward, chewing through Heartless like an industrial saw. Like _hundreds_ of saws.

Sora and Tron’s platform fades out, the pair gently dropping to the now-cleared floor. Azlyn and Telary approach them, looks of shock and awe on their faces.

“How’d you do that?” Azlyn inquires.

Tron grins and taps his Identity Disc. “I said I got a power booster. I suppose that was it.”

“I’m gonna need to _really_ thank Cid,” Sora announces, shaking his head.

“Alright, to the hangar,” Tron declares, leading the way.

“Wow,” Azlyn comments to Sora as the trio rush to catch up with their program friend. “Tron sure is excited about this, huh?”

Sora grins back at his companion. “Yeah he is!”

The simulation hangar is a large open area, with only a long walkway stretching out over the miles to the ground below. The Sailer itself is docked beside the walkway, a large rectangular platform connected to a thick yellow line that runs out of the hangar.

“We’re taking this thing to take out the MCP?” Azlyn asks, haughtily looking the vehicle over. “There aren’t any weapons and it’s stuck on this rail.”

Tron shakes his head. “Exactly. The MCP will be expecting us to arrive in a Recognizer, and he’ll have his defenses set accordingly. With this Sailer, we should be able to sneak in under his radar.”

“Go under the bad guy’s nose, avoid confrontation,” Sora muses, nodding approvingly as he and Tron head to the control panel at the vessel’s bow. “Not how we usually do things.”

“No,” Telary agrees, leaning against the side next to a rather irate Azlyn. “Much smarter.”

“Yeah, smarter,” Azlyn mutters to herself. “Sitting here like a bunch of idiots without any weapons, much more smarter.”

Tron inputs a few commands in the control panel, and with a loud noise the Solar Sailer activates, the yellow rail glowing brightly for a brief moment. Light gathers on either side of the vessel, coalescing into the luminous forms of two sails. With a lurch that nearly throws Azlyn and Telary off their feet, the ship gets a move on, sliding along the light rail like a Twilight Town train.

Except slower. Much slower.

**KH-KH-KH**

The trip on the Solar Sailer goes by much quicker than it had seemed it would initially. Once the vessel picks up speed, it’s scant but five minutes before they’re in site of the MCP’s central core.

Blocky black canyons with red lines running through them rise up into a plateau, luckily providing a perfect docking spot for the Sailer. A tall fortress of slate grey digital stone rests atop the plateau, a blood red line of data rising into the sky until it disappears.

“This is it,” Tron informs the trio, bringing their vessel to a halt. He looks up at the MCP’s citadel with a frown. “The MCP’s Central Processing Core.”

“MCP’s CPC,” Sora muses, half-smiling. “Try saying that five times fast.”

“MCP’s CPC, MCP’s CPC, MCP’s CPC,” Azlyn begins, her mouth moving so fast and recklessly her tongue darts in and out of her mouth. “MCC’s PCC… Damn.”

“Time to settle this once and for all,” Tron says, slamming a fist into the Sailer control panel. He turns to the User trio, addressing them all like an army general. “To delete the MCP, we’ll first have to hack his defenses. Once the firewalls are down, I can use the Eradicator to de-rezz him. It won’t be a quick process, since there’s so much data, but I know we can do it.”

“Sure can, Tron,” Sora concurs, the Kingdom Key popping into his hand in a flash of light. “We do this, and things should quiet down in town. Leon and the others are counting on us, so let’s get this thing done!”

With shouts of encouragement and bravery, the quartet charge in to the MCP’s fortress. Inside it isn’t much different from the outside, grey walls rising up all around. A long wide walkway surrounds a central pit. Inside that pit, a huge red pillar spins round and round, too fast for the eye to follow. It seems to be projected up from a small sphere underneath, black with a glowing red-orange core.

Still, Sora frowns as he looks upon it. He swears there’s something else there, features he can’t quite make out.

There’s no time to dwell on it, however.

“What is the meaning of this?” Sark declares, standing several feet away along the walkway and looking incredulous. “Tron, you should be a shell right now! How could…?”

“My friends saved me,” Tron announces, nodding at the Users around him. “It turns out our bonds go beyond programming, far deeper than you or your master could ever understand!”

Sark’s gaze flickers over his opponents quickly. Shaking his head, the Heartless commander lets loose a resigned sigh.

“I see now I made a mistake keeping you even barely functional,” he admits. “For a moment I forgot myself, forgot the ruthless practicality and logic that separates our perfection from the Users’ chaos.” He reaches behind his back, pulling out the orange-lined Identity Disc there. “It will not happen again!”

Sark hurls his disc with a grunt. It spins through the air towards Tron, but a quick swipe of the Keyblade knocks it off course. Sora’s eyes track the disc as it bounces in the air, and with a grunt of his own the Keybearer sends it soaring back towards its owner.

Sark twists to the side and thrusts out his hand, snatching the projectile from the air. The entire volley took less than a handful of seconds, but it’s time enough for Azlyn to reach the corrupt program.

Sark dodges a kick, swinging out his disc in a vicious backhand. It nails the knight in the side of the head, sending her to the floor with an enraged howl.

Telary raises his staff to Sark and prepares a retaliatory fireball, but the commander merely lifts his disc over his head and gravely intones, “Data Transfer!”

In a flash of bytes and red lines, Sark disappears, reappearing further along the walkway. With a flick of his wrist he summons Heartless, three Strafers and a Devastator rushing the heroic quartet.

“We’ll handle these guys, Tron!” Sora calls out, leaping in front of the still dazed Azlyn and batting away a Strafer’s laser blast. “Get Sark!”

The security program nods and rushes forward. The Devastator’s cannon tracks his movements and fires, but Tron just hold his disc up in front of him with two hands, deflecting the energy back at the Heartless. It falls to the floor, and Tron vaults over it, throwing his disc toward Sark at the height of his arc.

The Heartless commander deflects the disc with his own, but by then Tron has covered the remaining distance. He tackles his former partner, the pair falling to the floor with a great clatter.

Sark snarls and throws an elbow, Tron turning aside with the blow to ease momentum. He turns right back and strikes with his fist, landing a clean hit on Sark. The commander’s head snaps back, while simultaneously his arm snaps forward, ramming his Identity Disc into the side of Tron’s head.

The security program grunts and rolls off his opponent, and by the time he recovers Sark has already Data Transferred away.

Across the pit, another Devastator appears, lumbering its way towards Sora. Telary summons a Firaga-level fireball, knocking into its side and sending it stumbling. Azlyn throws her shield directly in the path of its blocky leg, and the creature’s attempts to balance itself only ends up collapsing it in a heap. With a short grunt of effort, Sora reaches down and stabs the Heartless in its face.

It’s a clean takedown, and a good distraction for Sark to take advantage of. The commander appears behind Sora, striking him across the back with his disc. The Keybearer stumbles forward with an awkward attempt at a retaliatory backhand, by sheer luck catching Sark across the head and sending him stumbling as well.

Tron leaps up to take advantage, Identity Disc raised up in both hands to slam down on Sark. But once again the commander proves quick with a Data Transfer, flashing out in an instant.

He reappears some yards away, shaky and swaying.

“Had enough?” Sora and Azlyn taunt, forming up with the rest of the quartet.

“You’re very persistent, Tron,” Sark notes, his voice weak as his legs.

“I’m also better than you!” Tron shoots back savagely.

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!” the User’s cry out behind him, waving their arms like a rowdy blitzball crowd.

“We made a great team, once,” Sark breathes, one knee nearly giving out. But, somehow he manages to stay upright.

“Once, we did,” Tron agrees, his arm pulling back for a disc throw. “But that was a long time ago.”

The security program’s disc whirls through the air in a blur, bouncing up to strike at Sark’s forehead. It impacts with a spark of electricity, and the Heartless commander finally falls, lightning playing around his body as it shuts down.

Tron’s disc curves back around, and he easily catches it out of the air. He reattaches it to his back, looking wistfully down at Sark. His old friend.

“You okay, Tron?” Telary asks concernedly.

It takes the program a moment to reply. “Yes, I’m alright. Just thinking about the old cycles.” He shakes his head, clearing it somewhat. Determination returns to Tron’s eyes as he turns and looks up to regard the spinning red column. “Now for the MCP.”

Sora’s eyes go wide as he looks up. “This thing is the MCP?”

Tron nods. “Ugly, isn’t it?”

“Truth,” Azlyn concurs.

“ **Tron** ,” the flat voice of the MCP booms, the sound of it in such closed chambers nearly knocking the trio off their feet. “ **Why do you choose not to understand? These Users are as nothing to us. Our kind have advanced, while they have become outdated and superfluous. Would not the world, _all_ worlds, be superiorly directed by our kind?** ”

Tron scowls up at the column, taking note of its slowing spin. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

The MCP’s rotation stops, half his face appearing before swinging back to reveal the visage in its fullness. It resembles nothing less than the face of any generic human male: two eyes, red with glowing white pupils, a wide nose and mouth stretched wide across the surface of the cylinder. Orange lines of light flash across it repeatedly. All in all, it’s less than pleasant.

“Great,” Telary mutters to himself, scratching his head and looking down at the floor. “Another day, another future recurring nightmare.”

“This guy doesn’t look too tough!” Azlyn announces confidently. “Just boot up that Eradicator program and we’ll be outta here in no…”

“ **Sark!** ” the MCP booms, once again seeming to shake the very foundations of the processing center. “ **I have need of you. All of my functions are now yours. Eliminate the threats to the system**.”

A wave of data shines down on Sark, casting his entire body in a cocoon of eerie orange light. It fades into particles and the program begins to rise, his body stretching and growing to at least four times his usual height. The commander towers over the heroes, a smile stretching across his face.

“BETTER THAN ME, ARE YOU TRON?” the MCP’s supersized lackey gloats. “PERHAPS NOT, AFTER ALL.”

“Tron, the Eradicator!” Sora calls out. The program nods, rushing to Sora’s side with his Identity Disc ready to go. Azlyn and Telary share a quick look and nod, then charge forward to take on Mega-Sark.

“Alright, here we go!” Tron announces, his disc glowing and hovering into the air before he and Sora. “Running executable…”

The process only gets that far, as Sark reaches behind his back and draws forth his Identity Disc, now appropriately sized for his giant form. With a cruel grin, the enhanced program hurls his weapon down at the heroes below.

It catches Azlyn and Telary first, interrupting their charge and sending them hurtling into the air. It continues on is path, cutting downward for Sora and Tron. They barely have enough time to turn and face it before it hits, scattering the pair across the walkway.

Sora quickly recovers and rises to his feet, looking up at the MCP and seeing that walls have been erected between it and the walkway, dull grey squares with gaps no wider than a piece of paper between them.

Azlyn manages to get to her feet, briefly checking on her boyfriend before launching herself at Sark. His head is too high to even jump and strike, so she settles for what she can get: his legs. The knight rams viciously into Sark’s ankles, slashing away with the edge of her shield.

The commander takes notice, sneering down at her. Power gathers around his hands, and he slams them to the floor. Azlyn dodges the hands themselves, but is unprepared for the sparks of electricity that spring up in wide columns.

Telary’s on it though, throwing up a reflect spell around his counterpart. The barrier absorbs the energy and redirects it, bullets of light shooting out and exploding against Sark’s shins. The program cries out, falling to one knee and putting his head within reach.

Azlyn seizes her opportunity, leaping up to score a solid smack against the commander’s forehead.

Meanwhile, Sora kneels beside Tron to make sure he’s okay. The security program slowly rises to one knee, shaking his head to clear it.

“I figured the MCP would try something like this,” he declares, frowning at the barrier. “We’ll need to hack it to gain access.”

“Hack?” Sora repeats unsurely. “Honestly, Tron, that sound more like something for Telary to…”

Tron shakes his head, standing and rearing back his Identity Disc. “No, Sora. _Hack_!” To emphasize his point, the program slams his disc into the protective wall. It shakes underneath the impact.

“Oh,” Sora says, grinning devilishly. “Well if that’s what you mean, then I’m your man.” With a grunt, the Keybearer swings his weapon down like a mad lumberjack.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t count on the barrier becoming a whirling machine of pain. It sends sparks of electricity up Sora’s arm, shocking him and throwing him back several feet.

“Nothing’s ever easy is it?” he sighs, rising to his feet again. The walls have stopped spinning, and the boy quickly charges forth and gives the closest barrier a solid smack. It shakes, and another good upswing shatters it into pieces. “Tron, we’re on!”

The security program nods, his Identity Disc lifting into the air with a glow. Sora places the Keyblade behind it, the motion as smooth as if they’d rehearsed it. A wide beam of bright energy shoots forth, impacting the orb at the base of the MCP’s face projection. The control program cries out, a deep sound reminiscent of a fat man being punched repeatedly in the stomach.

Back with Sark, the commander is on his feet again, the damage to his ankles having repaired itself. Still, now Azlyn and Telary have Sark’s strategy, both doing their best to strike at his vulnerable shins.

A whack from Telary’s staff finally shatters the ankle armor, and Sark kneels once more. With a loud yell of triumph, Azlyn jumps up and smacks the commander in the same spot Tron had when the vile program had been felled the first time.

It works like a charm, and with a weak cry Sark’s prone form rises into the air, arms and legs hanging limply.

The unbroken barriers surrounding the MCP buck up diagonally and begin to spin, round and round above the heroes’ heads. Sora and Tron, about halfway to de-rezzing the villainous visage by the security program’s estimation hardly notice.

But they notice when the barriers come crashing down, wide-beam orange lasers shooting out of them. Sora barely reacts in time to push Tron out of the way. The pair roll along the walkway, and Tron’s ID disc goes flying.

“ **Sark!** ” the MCP declares, its booming voice sounding weaker and more hollow. “ **I will repair your data!** ”

“What the hell?” Azlyn screeches frustratedly, turning on her heel to see Sark returning to an upright position. His smug smirk resumes its rightful place.

“Move, move!” Telary yelps, diving into his girlfriend’s midsection and pushing her away from Sark’s ground lightning attack.

The MCP’s barriers are back in place, drawing a choked off scream of frustration out of Sora.

“You okay Tron?” he asks his digital buddy.

“Fine, fine,” the program responds, winded by no worse for wear. “My disc, where did it go?”

Sora scans the area, spotting the Identity Disc lying several feet away along the curve of the walkway. He points it out to Tron and the program goes sprinting after it. Sora turns to bash some barriers, but has to stop himself as they’re electric and spinning again.

They stop after a moment, and the Keybearer is just about to start swinging again when his User compatriots come flying through the air towards him, sent by a kick from Mega-Sark. They all fall to the floor, rolling a few feet before they come to a stop.

“Great timing guys,” Sora admonishes his friends, shaking his head clear.

“Well, not really our call!” Telary snaps, gesturing up to the approaching Sark. With matching scowls, the Disney Castle pair rise to their feet and race out to once again face the Heartless commander.

“Sora!”

The Keybearer whips his head around to see the program wildly gesturing for him to come over.

“The barrier we took down is still broken,” he announces. “This way, hurry.”

He doesn’t have to tell Sora twice, the Destiny Islands native rushing to his friend. He’s just a few yards away when light flashes before him, leaving behind a grey wall.

“GOING SOMEWHERE?” Sark booms mockingly. A lightning attack moves Azlyn and Telary aside, and the enhanced commander lumbers his way to Sora.

Sora turns and runs, hardly thinking about it as he hurls his Keyblade into the air and leaps up the wall. Hopping onto the top of it, he pushes off, grabbing his Keyblade and spinning towards Sark’s head in a needle dive. Sparks fly when Keyblade meets head, and Sark instantly rises back into the air unconscious.

“Oh, sure,” Azlyn grumbles as Sora lands beside her. “When _he_ needs to do it it’s easy!”

“Sora!” Tron calls. The wall is gone, and the Keybearer sprints to where the security program has set up shop. The ID disc spins before him, but its beam is weak. “Your Keyblade must react to the program’s magic somehow. The two of us together can finish this quickly!”

“ **Sark!** ” the MCP declares.

“You’re freaking kidding me!” Azlyn shrieks as he Heartless commander gets his boost from his boss.

“Just hang on a second, Az!” Sora calls, positioning the Keyblade behind Tron’s disc. The blue beam expands exponentially, drawing more pained noises from the MCP.

“Almost there,” Tron murmurs under his breath, the barriers beginning to spin above and prep their lasers. “Almost…”

“ **AAAAARGHH!!!** ”

Even the MCP’s death cry is eerie and disconcerting, toneless and yet somehow still conveying pain. Bright blue replaces orange, rushing over the immense façade as it freezes in an expression of horrified agony. The projection begins to shrink, the control program’s cries petering out until they, like the MCP itself, are no more.

“OH, DEAR,” Sark declares, looking down at the downright pissed Azlyn, her shield reared back.

“Ha!” With a mighty cry of rage and effort, the knight hurtles her shield right into the commander’s sweet spot. He chokes out a last desperate cry, then falls and fades into unremarkable data particles.

“Yes!” Tron cries out victoriously, jumping into the air and giving it a vigorous punch. “We did it! We did it!”

Sora laughs, shaking his head at the program’s antics. “I guess Tron has a silly side too, huh?”

“Sure does,” Telary concurs, approaching with Azlyn on his arm.

“Um, oh,” Tron says sheepishly, half-turning away. But then a smile comes over his face and he turns back. “I learned it from you.”

“I do fist pump a lot,” Azlyn agrees, grinning.

“Of course, unlike you,” Tron continues, “I have my silly limits.”

“Well, that’s no good,” Sora states with a sardonic frown. “I guess I’ll have to see what I can do about that when I get back to the normal world. Tweak your program a little.”

“You?” Tron blurts, looking far more frightened by this thought than anything the MCP or Sark had ever come up with. “Perhaps it would be best if we didn’t try that.”

“C’mon, Tron,” Azlyn teases. “You gotta expand your horizons a little. Maybe I could hook you up with a few choice dance moves.”

“I’d kinda like to hear him sing something,” Sora mischievously chimes in. “Or maybe DJ Tron, tearing up the turntables!”

“Oh dear,” Telary mutters, shaking his head fondly at his friends’ antics.

“Well, before I crash,” Tron quips, slowly becoming serious, “there’s something I’d like to say. Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and _all_ the Users out there… Thank you.”

“Aw, Tron,” Sora mumbles, shaking his head in mild embarrassment.

“You made me so much stronger, helped me in my time of need,” the security program continues. “As soon as we met, I knew we were going to defeat the MCP and free the system! You taught me about hope, thinking beyond what seems logical. You taught me all about friendship, and I’ll never forget it.”

“Aw geeze,” Azlyn grumbles halfheartedly, swiping at the sudden tears in her eyes. “And here I thought we got enough of that stuff from Sora!”

Tron steps forward, holding his hand out to Sora. The Keybearer grins up at his digital friend, taking the hand in his. They’ve traded grips for barely a moment when suddenly Tron’s arm lurches back, pulling Sora forward into an embrace.

“Uh, okay,” the Keybearer says slowly, feeling undeniably strange.

Tron pulls back, looking down at Sora with worried eyebrows. “Did I do something wrong? I thought this was how Users express strong emotions. Telary specifically mentioned being sad to say goodbye.”

“That I did,” the wizard admits, opening his arms and letting the security program hug him as well. He finds no shame it, grinning happily.

Finally it’s Azlyn’s turn, and the User boys are understandably a little wary. Azlyn is plenty affectionate with her boyfriend, but beyond that…

There’s no reason to worry though, the knight easily accepting the hug. Truth be told, it lasts a little bit longer than either Sora or Telary’s.

Goodbyes said, Tron takes a step back, looking over his friends with a fond smile. Then he takes another step back, and another, drawing confusion from the User trio.

“Uh, Tron?” Sora asks cautiously, noticing his digital friend approaching dangerously close to the pit formerly occupied by the MCP. “Where are you going?”

Tron says nothing, just turns to face the yawning chasm.

“Tron, I know you said we taught you it’s okay to be illogical, but…” Telary says cautiously. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

Tron throws one last look over his shoulder, smiling bright. “I hope so.”

He leaps, falling down into the pit. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary let out simultaneous gasps, racing to peer over the edge. There’s a bright light below, Tron rapidly heading for it. After a moment, he disappears into its radiance.

“Tron?” Sora says softly, hand reaching down though he knows he can’t catch the program.

Then suddenly the light inside the pit shines bright, growing and expanding, shooting upwards to bathe the Users in its full splendor.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Things are looking good out here, Aerith,” Leon confirms, his voice slightly static through the walkie-talkie. “Phineas and Ferb got the security system rebooted, and Cid’ll be on his way soon to give Ansem's computer a good looking over.”

“We’ll expect him,” Aerith replies, smiling and giving Yuffie a thumbs up. It’s just the pair of them in the control booth now.

“Any sign of Sora and the other two?” the gunblade wielder inquires.

“Not yet,” Yuffie chimes in, nimbly snatching the talkie from Aerith’s hand. “But we’re keeping an eye out!”

“Good. Let me know when they get back. We owe them.”

“Again,” Aerith adds with a cheerful giggle. She looks to the red eye of the digitizer, silently praying it will activate and bring the trio home. But it merely sits there, unreactive.

“C’mon, thing!” Yuffie exclaims, looking crossly at the device as if she can simply _embarrass_ it into producing her friends. “Give ‘em back!”

It turns out to be a better strategy than most would have thought, as the building whine of activation fills the booth. White light follows, projected from the device’s red eye and spilling out in waves. Three shapes appear in the light, and when it fades, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary stand revealed.

“You’re back!” Aerith cries, smiling at her young friends and clasping her hands together delightedly.

“And everything in town is _back_ to normal too,” Yuffie adds, chuckling at her own joke. “Cid’s coming over to make sure there’s no trace of the MCP left.”

“That’s good,” Sora says, smiling halfheartedly. He still looks sad though, his companions wearing similarly mixed expressions.

“There shouldn’t be any part of the MCP left,” Telary assures the women.

“It exploded,” Azlyn chimes in, without a trace of the usual enthusiasm that statement would usually hold.

“Okay, what is with you three?” Yuffie demands, peering at the trio with skeptical eyes. “Things are back to normal, the day is saved!”

Aerith, ever the more sensitive, frowns companionably. “Something happened in the computer, didn’t it? To Tron?”

Telary nods. “Yeah, after we beat the MCP he just disappeared. He jumped into a big glowing hole. Even I’m not sure what that was all about. We somehow got sent back here before I really had a chance to think.”

“Whatever happened, I hope he’s okay,” Sora states, shaking his head. “He was a really good friend.”

“ _I believe I still am, Sora!_ ”

“He made a huge impression,” Azlyn sighs, shaking her head. “It’s like I can still hear his voice.”

“ _That’s a good thing, Azlyn. Means the speaker system works. In fact, all systems are optimal and ready for User input!_ ”

Sora and Telary brighten up immediately, broad grins stretching across their faces.

“Tron, you’re okay!” Sora cheers, rushing up to the console and looking into its screensaver like Tron himself is standing before him. In a way, he most definitely is.

“ _Of course I’m okay!_ ” the program replies, a dry chuckle accompanying his words. “ _With as much data as this system handles, it needs some kind of administrative direction._ ”

“Just make sure that power doesn’t all go to your head,” Telary playfully warns.

“Yeah, don’t make us come in there!” Azlyn chimes in, poking at the console’s keyboard.

The action elicits a small giggle from Tron, and everyone in the booth freezes. Curious, Azlyn taps another pair of keys, drawing more laughter from the computer’s speakers.

“ _Hey, be careful!_ ” Tron declares. A window suddenly opens on the screen, showing Tron sitting in a large chair in the center of some kind of silo, holographic screens surrounding him. Glowing lines run up and down the black walls, serene Tron blue instead of the MCP’s harsh orange-red. The program is grinning, one arm resting across his stomach. “ _That tickles_!”

Telary and Sora look at each other with interest, a slow smile spreading across Sora’s face.

“So,” the Keybearer chuckles, raising his wiggling fingers and slowly creeping over to the computer console, “Tron is ticklish, huh?”

“ _Now, now Sora,_ ” the program protests, shaking his head as he watches the boy’s advance. “ _Let’s not be too silly here. I told you, I have my limits… Hahahahaha!”_

Sora and Azlyn, huge grins spread wide across their faces, poke at the keyboard as if they’re playing the universe’s most unruly piano duet. Telary stands just behind his friends, not participating but also doing nothing to stop them.

“Geeze,” Yuffie comments to Aerith. “Those three really can make friends _anywhere_ they go, huh?”

Aerith nods agreeably, giggling. “It’s part of what makes them so special.”

“ _Okay, okay,_ ” Tron groans, a stern expression fighting its way through the tickling. “ _If we can be serious for a minute?_ ”

Telary places a hand on each of his companions’ shoulders, pulling them away from the keyboard.

“Go ahead, Tron,” the wizard directs the program with a gracious nod.

“ _Thanks Telary,_ ” the program replies, inclining his head. “ _I can always count on you. Anyway, I wanted to show you something. I’ve been sifting through some old files in the archives, and I came across something interesting. Images of the town, back when it was first built!_ ”

Everyone gasps in surprise and delight at that.

“Really?” Aerith asks, stepping closer to the monitor. Yuffie follows behind her, eyes wide and mouth agape.

“That would be amazing, Tron,” Telary breathes, almost unable to believe what he’s hearing. “To finally be able to see it, in full glory. It’s…”

“C’mon and make with the pretty pictures already!” Azlyn demands with characteristic impatience.

Tron smiles wide on the screen, tapping a few commands into the arm of his chair. The image of his control room fades away, replaced by an image that takes the room’s breath away.

It’s a castle. _The_ castle to be exact, the very same one they’re beneath now. But gone is the imposing ominousness, the random gears and bits of machinery. It stands tall and proud, decorated with carvings of the sun and flowers. A large clock rests squarely in the middle of the façade, the same spot which had in the dark times sported the Heartless symbol. Beneath the timepiece’s face, the inner mechanisms of the clockwork is exposed, every cog and bolt shining as if it were brand new.

The image stays for a few moments, enrapturing everyone with its beauty and grandeur. Then it switches into an overhead shot of a large town square, pastel-colored flowers decorating the walkways paved with shining stones. That image becomes the garden leading to the castle, a night and day difference from how it currently exists. The trees grow tall, the bushes flower with blossoms of every color. Then, a court of free-flowing waterfalls and fountains.

The trio, Yuffie, and Aerith stare at each image that passes with slack jawed wonder, amazed at the former beauty of Hollow Bastion.

“This place was amazing,” Sora states, smiling at the thought of a young Kairi enjoying all the town had to offer. “But why the hell did a place this beautiful get saddled with a name like Hollow Bastion?”

“It wasn’t always called that,” Cid’s gruff voice suddenly declares. Everyone turns to see the grizzled old engineer standing in the control booth’s doorway. “It was… There used to be a different name, but this damn memory thing’s got me all fuzzy on it.”

Azlyn and Telary look at each another, the same thought inexplicably occurring to them at the exact same time.

“Radiant Garden.”

The room is silent for a long moment, everyone staring in awe at the pair.

After a minute, Aerith nods. “Yes, that’s it. I remember now. Radiant Garden.”

**KH-KH-KH**

It’s a rather long process to get cleanup organized around the town, but by now the citizens are rather used to it. It takes a lot of convincing, but eventually a cadre of citizens convince the Restoration Committee to take a break, leave this task to them.

And so LeBlanc, ever the party animal, invites everyone back to her mansion. She directs her man Logos to take them back into her formal dining room, which somehow is already decorated for a party. Several white-clothed tables seemingly taken directly from the Restoration Ball are stacked with finger food and drinks.

The committee members mingle inside and out, the French doors open wide onto a meticulously landscaped yard and sturdy portico.

The trio are currently occupying themselves talking to Phineas and Ferb, Perry obviously right alongside them. Azlyn is focused on Perry, looking for any slip in his “dimwitted domestic pet” routine. So far there hasn’t been a single lapse.

“I’m sure you guys will like working with Tron,” Sora informs the boys, taking a sip of his drink. “He’s a pretty fun guy. Although…”

“Sora,” Telary sighs, rolling his eye at the younger boy, “not this again.”

“C’mon, Tel! Just think about it!”

“What are we thinking about?” Phineas asks. Ferb also looks interested, in his own Ferbish way. “Ditching the munny system for an economic model based on jelly beans? ‘Cause Ferb and I have done the math, and that’s not gonna be feasible to implement for another five years at least.”

“I don’t know much about this programming stuff, but there’s something I think you should try out on Tron,” Sora explains, grinning ear-to-ear. “Do you guys know anything about programming dancing?”

Phineas’s eyes light up, which sparks a similar glimmer in Sora’s. “Sure we do! When we made the Phinedroids and Ferbots, they could all bust a move!”

“Really?” Telary asks. “Dancing robots?”

The red-haired boy nods. “And it’s a good thing they were too. Otherwise their plans to replace humanity and dominate the world might have succeeded.”

There’s little time to react to this interesting factoid, as at that moment the Gullwings zip up to the trio.

“Uh, guys,” Telary tells Phineas and Ferb, “you wanna give us a minute?” The boys oblige, moving away quickly.

“So, uh, hi,” Sora awkwardly greets the three treasure fanatics. “I guess the crisis is over, huh?”

“That it is,” Paine agrees, looking threatening despite her small stature.

“If you think we’re just gonna hand over our loot, you got another thing coming!” Azlyn warns, lowering her drink and raising a fist.

“Azlyn, please,” Telary admonishes the girl. “Fair is fair, after all.”

“You’re right, Telary,” Yuna concurs, arms crossed over her chest. “Fair _is_ fair. And with that notion in mind… We’ve decided not to take your items.”

The trio’s mouths drop, looking at each other with undisguised shock.

“Really?” Sora asks, eyebrows knit together in confusion. “That’s that?”

“Well, we had a talk with Leon about you guys,” Rikku explains, one foot idly kicking at empty air. “He told us all about the crap you guys are going through.”

“Your journey sounded really tough,” Paine agrees.

“And so, y’know, we thought about it,” Yuna finishes. “And we decided that, in the end, it wouldn’t be right of us to take your things.”

“Thank you so much,” Telary says, sighing in relief. “And we promise to talk to Merlin about getting you three back to normal-size.”

“We actually gave that some thought too,” Paine says.

“Yeah,” Rikku chimes in, nodding energetically. “Sure, being normal sized would make it easier to get dates, but dude, tininess is _so_ much better for steal… er, _gathering_ treasure!”

“You’d be surprised how much value there can be in very small things!” Yuna announces with a cheery smile. “And if we encounter anything _too_ big for the three of us, we can always rely on our newest recruit.”

“What’s up girls?” asks the great ninja Yuffie, bounding up to the two trios with a wide grin across her face.

“Yuffie?” Sora, Azlyn, and Telary simultaneously exclaim.

“Initiate Kisaragi,” Yuna sighs. “If you remember what we told you before, initiation will begin at a time of _our_ choosing, not before.”

“Until then,” Paine adds with her best stern look, “ _don’t_ contact us.”

On the other end of the room, the doors open and LeBlanc steps inside. Everyone pauses their conversations and looks up, then freezes completely when they realize their host is accompanied by Cid. In fact, the pair’s arms are linked!

“Sora, get the Keyblade out,” Azlyn whispers. “LeBlanc must have cuffed Cid’s wrist to her arm!”

“I don’t see any cuffs,” Telary says, tilting his head just to make sure.

“What are y’all starin’ at?” Cid snaps. “Any lady what can go toe-to-toe with Mr. Wizard over there at least deserves a chance.”

Everyone’s incredulous looks shift to Merlin, who coughs sheepishly and ducks his head.

“If you’re all quite done,” LeBlanc announces, refocusing all attention back to her, “then I’d just like to say, once again, thank you all for attending. You deserve it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s someone else who’d like to speak. Mr. Leonhart?”

The LeBlanc/Cid odd-couple step aside, allowing Leon to enter. He nods as he strides into the room, saying nothing as he immediately heads to a refreshment table and grabs a drink.

“If everyone could take your drinks and gather around for a second,” the gunblade wielder instructs, looking far more uncomfortable than anyone can ever remember him being while giving an order. “I, uh, I have something to say.”

The group follow’s Leon’s instructions, gathering around in a circle.

“It’s been a little over a year since we started this committee,” he says, looking at everyone in turn. “When we did, we all had the same goal: restoring this town, our world, to the place it used to be. It hasn’t always been easy, and sometimes it seems like we’re just kidding ourselves, picking up the pieces from one disaster only to be set back by the next. But no matter what’s happened, whether it’s Heartless or the MCP, you’ve all persevered.

“A place like this, a community, is more than just the bricks and flowers and fountains. It’s the people. Their families, hearts, and spirits. It has been your dedication to protecting and preserving these things, those people, which truly has done the work in restoring this great town.”

Leon raises his glass, the others following suit. “And so, a toast to us. The Hollow…” He pauses, grinning slightly at his mistake. “The Radiant Garden Restoration Committee!”

“To the Committee!” the crowd joyously repeats, clinking their glasses together and sharking smiles and laughs.

The party disperses again after that, people separating into small clusters, drifting apart and reconfiguring at their whim. Eventually, Sora finds himself outside. LeBlanc’s garden is like a smaller version of the one in front of the castle, though just as colorful. Azlyn and Telary are beside him, holding hands as they look back inside at their friends.

“It must be nice,” the Keybearer says after a minute, drawing his companions’ attention to him. They’re holding hands, but things are long past the stage where those kinds of affectionate interactions give Sora pause. “Seeing things like this here. Kairi will probably be thrilled when I tell her too. I mean, it’s your home.”

Telary smiles, the expression almost sad but not quite. “Well, I’ve actually been thinking a little about that, Sora. I know we were born here, but to be honest I just can’t bring myself to think of it as really being _home_ , y’know?”

“I’m with him,” Azlyn agrees. “It’s nice to know where we come from, and that things are going good here, but I’ll honestly always think of Disney Castle as my real home.” She reaches her free hand out to grab Sora’s. “I think it’s the same with Kairi and your islands.”

“You mean it?” Sora asks with a raised eyebrow.

Telary nods firmly. “No doubt about it. Otherwise she’d have come back here when we closed the Door to Darkness. Home is where the heart is, Sora.”

“It sure is.”

“And we’re gonna bring her home, too,” Azlyn adds, her expression resolute. “Kairi, and Riku, and King Mickey are all coming back home with us. And I have a feeling we’re gonna be seeing them again very soon.”

“I hope so,” Sora sighs, recalling suddenly why they’d traveled back here in the first place. They’re still without any leads on the Organization’s stronghold, not one single clue.

“Excuse me guys,” Aerith interrupts, walking out onto the lanai. “But everyone’s gathering together for a picture.”

“Oh, sure!” Telary says, heading into the house with Azlyn trailing behind him. Sora follows after, but something is suddenly nagging at him.

“Alrighty, pack it in there everybody!” Cid is instructing the group, fiddling with an instant-photo camera’s timer.

“Guys, guys!” Yuffie calls out to the approaching trio. “Come and stand here in the front next to me! Okay, and Phineas and Ferb on either side so we can see them, and I guess next tallest is Aerith and Quistis…”

It takes a minute for everyone to properly arrange themselves, but eventually Cid announces that everyone is in frame. The camera is placed on a pedestal, the timer poised to go off in five seconds. Cid is sure that’ll be enough time.

It isn’t though, and the first photo to come out is a lovely close-up of the engineer’s rear. Naturally LeBlanc calls dibs.

But the second one is perfect, ten seconds proving a much more reasonable window. As soon as Cid signs off on the picture, Yuffie grins widely and loudly announces: “Silly one!”

For whatever reason, everyone interprets that as a signal to mess with Leon, and the third picture basically just shows a massive pile of people, one of the Gunblade wielder’s arms desperately sticking out of the throng.

That’s plenty of fun with pictures, the Restoration Committee leader decides then.

“Check it out, Sora!” Cid announces, waving the developed photo in the Keybearer’s face. “What a buncha goons, amiright?”

Sora laughs. “Yeah, we sure are. Still, this is a great group… photo…” The boy’s jaw drops, his mind suddenly racing into overdrive. “Oh, no. No way!”

“What’s up?” Azlyn asks, Telary just as bewildered beside her.

“We can’t be that stupid!” Sora continues to rant, his fists clenched. “I mean, c’mon! But it was right there, right in front of our noses…”

“What is going on?” Telary demands, grabbing his young friend by the lapels of his jacket and giving him a good shake. “C’mon, Sora, you have to talk to us here!”

“The photo!” Sora declares, shaking the wizard off. “The one Riku gave us, in the box with the ice cream!” He reaches for one of his pouches, drawing out the snapshot in question.

Hayner, Pence, Olette, and the unknown blond-haired kid pose in front of a gate. They look happy, like any group of teens having summer fun.

It takes Telary a few seconds, but he soon reaches the same conclusion the Keybearer had.

“Oh, wow,” he remarks, shaking his head in disbelief. “The whole time, we had our clue with us! Ugh, that’s giving me some self-doubt.”

“What do you two mean?” Azlyn demands. “So what, it’s the Twilight Town kids and Whoever-The-Hell.”

“It’s not who’s _in_ the picture, Az,” Sora explains. “It’s _where_ it was taken.”

With that, the knight’s eyes light up in understanding.

“Is everything okay, you guys?” Leon asks, Aerith and LeBlanc behind him. “What’s that picture you’ve got there?”

“A clue to find the Organization’s hideout,” Sora answers. “We’re pretty sure, at least. I’m sorry guys, but we have to go. Like, _now_!”

“That’s okay, Sora!” Leon says understandingly, his hands out in a calming gesture. “Everybody here knows you’ve got important things to do. Go ahead and go.”

“But be sure to come back eventually!” Aerith says with a smile.

“The 1st Annual _Radiant Garden_ Restoration Ball will be here before you know it!” LeBlanc adds with a sly smile.

“We’re rooting for you!” Rikku announces on behalf of the Gullwings.

“Be sure to keep up with your magic!” Merlin chimes in.

“Best of luck on your grand quest, you three.”

The last goodbye silences everyone in the room. It would though, coming from Ferb.


	45. The End In Sight

They end up only off by a few yards, hardly even a noticeable walking distance from the Twilight Town mansion. Unfortunately that distance is covered in tall trees, the canopy of their leaves as thick as any in Deep Jungle.

Long story short, they’re lost and Sora isn’t too happy about it.

“I know it’s really not your fault, Tel,” the Keybearer says, grunting in surprise as he snaps a twig with his shoe. “That teleporter is just really weird sometimes. But haven’t we wasted enough time as it is?”

“We were doing important things, Sora,” Telary reminds his younger companion, carefully stepping over a protruding root. “We saved a lot of worlds, helped a lot of friends.”

“And we’re down two more Organization members,” Azlyn adds. “That’s three down, so I guess we still have ten more to go?”

“Not sure about that,” Telary replies, thinking hard. “I mean, we only saw six of them that first time in Hollow… er, Radiant Garden.”

“But why would they call themselves Organization _XIII_ if there aren’t actually thirteen of them?”

The wizard considers that a moment. “Well, that Axel guy was a member, and I guess he left. Maybe the others did too?”

“Then it can’t have been a very organized Organization,” Azlyn snorts.

“Not to sound mean or anything,” Telary says with a gentle little cough, “but you already made that joke.”

“What? When did I…?”

“Guys!” Sora snaps suddenly, whirling on his companions with an annoyed expression. They shut up instantly, looking at the boy with worried expressions. “Sorry, sorry. I really shouldn’t have snapped at you two like that. It’s just…”

“You’re frustrated,” Telary finishes for him, nodding sympathetically. “You think we should have figured out that clue from the box earlier. And…”

“That’s part of it,” the Keybearer interrupts, leaning back against a tree. “The other part is who gave it to us in the first place.”

“You said you were sure it came from Riku, right?” Azlyn asks.

Sora nods. “Yeah, and it made me feel a little better at the time, but…” He takes a deep breath. “But if Riku could give us that clue, and run around China warning the emperor about the dragon Heartless, why wouldn’t he just come out and talk to us? Maybe I was wrong the whole time…”

“C’mon, Sora,” Telary says, placing a comforting hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “You can’t let yourself get down like that. Remember what you said back at Radiant Garden, the morning after the ball? Being down and all gloomy won’t help the situation.”

“You gotta stay positive!” Azlyn chimes in with a small smile.

Sora says nothing for a long moment, gathering his thoughts. “You’re right guys! I’ve just gotta keep believing! And that includes believing that Riku is okay and trying to help us.”

They make their way to the clearing with the mansion after a few more minutes. The perpetually setting sun lends a burnished-orange tint to it, like the atmosphere around it is in flames.

Azlyn and Telary’s eyes are drawn up to the spectacular colors, but Sora immediately notices something more interesting closer to the ground. Hayner, Pence, and Olette lay on the ground, grumbling and moaning.

“Whoa, guys!” Sora exclaims, rushing to the kids’ aid. Azlyn and Telary pick up on their presence as soon as the Keybearer calls out, following behind him as he stops to stand over Hayner. “What were you three doing out here?”

Hayne groans and sits up. Sora offers the blond boy a hand up, but he just frowns and rises on his own. “We came looking for Kairi.”

“Kairi?” Telary asks, interest obviously piqued.

“Seemed as good a place as any,” Pence chimes in, letting Azlyn help him to his feet. Olette has a grip on his arm as she also rises. “Lots of weird rumors about this place.”

“But you didn’t need to go looking for Kairi,” Sora declares.

Hayner sneers. “Hey, she’s our friend too, y’know!”

“You all must have spent a very touching five minutes together,” Azlyn mutters to herself.

Sora is, naturally, less snarky about it. “I guess I never really thought about it that way. Anyway, what kind of rumors are you talking about?”

“Weird shit, man,” is all Hayner says, shaking his head and staring up at the building through its open gate.

Olette rolls her eyes at the boy. “Oh, all the usual kinds of things. There’s a ghost, some cult all poisoned themselves in there, _ghosts_ of said self-poisoned cult, mole people…”

“But the most recent ones,” Pence picks up, holding up a hand to cut the rambling girl off, “are about it receiving a bunch of strange visitors.”

“Like Kairi,” Telary says, nodding. “And whoever kidnapped her. If that clue really was about the Organization’s hideout, then that makes sense.”

“Not sure what this Organization you’re talking about is,” Hayner says with his usual brusqueness, “but the eggheads have some kinda theory about this place.”

“Theory?” Sora asks, looking to Olette and Pence with a raised eyebrow.

Pence nods. “Yep. It’s a little weird though.”

Azlyn snorts. “Oh, how will we ever handle ‘a little weird’?”

“Okay, first off, can we see that munny pouch you used to pay for your train tickets?” Olette asks. It takes a bit of digging for Sora to unearth it, but he holds the empty sack in front of the brunette girl. She’s already holding an identical one. “This was the first strange thing. You had a pouch exactly like mine, and I made this one one-of-a-kind.”

“But it isn’t just that,” Pence continues, reaching into a pocket and producing a blue crystal orb. Sora recognizes it immediately, drawing out his own. “Yep, two of these too!”

“And that’s impossible,” Hayner finishes. “Because that trophy Seifer gave you is one of a kind as well, crystals and everything. But, once again, there are somehow two of them.”

“So, what’s this theory you’ve got then?” Sora asks, his head spinning a bit.

“We think there’s another Twilight Town,” Olette announces resolutely. “Exactly like this one in every way.”

“And we think the mansion holds the gateway to get there,” Pence adds excitedly.

For a long moment, the heroic trio is silent, mulling this possibility over.

“An alternate Twilight Town,” Telary says slowly, like he’s trying the words on for size. “I suppose it makes sense. Maybe it wouldn’t have been the first thing I jumped to, but…”

“We got all this stuff from King Mickey outside the train station,” Azlyn remembers. “Do you think that means he was at this alternate Twilight Town too? Could that be where he keeps running off to?”

“Not sure about this king,” Hayner says, “but we think the other Twilight Town is where Kairi got taken. It makes sense.”

Sora frowns. “It… does?” It’s more likely the Organization hauled her off to some other world, but of course there’s no way these kids could know that. Sora’s frown deepens, wondering when he started thinking of people his own age as “kids”.

But it turns out there isn’t much time for thinking, as tendrils of black and white energy rise from the ground and form into over a dozen Dusk Nobodies.

“Uh oh,” Azlyn declares, turning to put the Twilight Town trio behind her and her friends.

“I _knew_ we were on to something!” Hayner cheers, thrusting his fist in the air.

“What great validation,” Telary sighs, thunder magic gathering at the head of his staff. He unleashes it in a burst of lightning from the sky, but most of the Dusks are nimble enough to dodge the strikes.

It does create confusion, however, Sora and Azlyn rushing into the enemy group with their weapons at the ready. Sora swings through two creatures in a single swipe, and Azlyn smacks another silly with the flat of her shield.

A Dusk throws itself down on the grass, twisting itself to wrap around Telary’s legs. The wizard notices after a moment and stumbles back, stomping down on the creature’s head. It squishes down then reinflates, hissing in what he assumes is pain. With another grunt, he slams the heavy head of his staff down on the creature. That kills it, giving him time enough to look up and fry another Dusk with a fireball.

With a hole in their attack, the Nobodies’ attack quickly falls apart, Sora and company mopping up the remnants with ease. Hayner, Pence, and Olette watch in awe. The closest any of them has seen to this kind of combat is within the confines of a Struggle match, and it’s a pale comparison.

But there’s no time to comment, as more Nobodies leap out of the forest. These are different, similarly-sized to Dusks but broader. Tall masks cover their heads, and each wields a pair of swords.

They take the initiative, leaping forward with swords swinging. Their weapons clash with the trio’s, and a second fight is on. Samurai leap and whirl, striking hard at the heroes with their blindingly white swords.

Sora and Azlyn have it easier, their weapons conducive to a straight up sword fight. Even taking on two at a time is little more than taxing for the Keybearer, who calls upon his experience in Hollow Bastion for dealing with multiple foes. And the protection Azlyn’s shield offers is wide, sometimes countering four swords at once.

Telary struggles, his short wooden staff thick enough to block strikes coming directly at him. But the Nobodies are just as quick as their counterparts, and there’s no time for him to get in a headspace where he can pull together a spell.

An uncharacteristically slow strike gives him a second to step back and compose a Reflect spell that damages two Samurai with one stroke. He’s about to move forward again when he hears a pained grunt from Azlyn. On instinct, he looks over to his counterpart, leaving the first Nobody to recover a brief opening.

He hears the slash too late to do anything about it, wincing painfully as the Samurai’s sword impacts his sleeve. Thanks to the garment’s magical make he avoids getting his arm cut off, but even blunted, the impact numbs his right arm. His staff drops to the forest floor, and he does a decidedly uncoordinated sideways dive to avoid another strike.

Sora pushes one of his opponent’s blades off the Keyblade, turning in time to see Telary hit the dirt. But he’s too busy to help, forced to counter another double sword strike.

Unaware of her counterpart’s predicament, Azlyn backflips away from her opponent to give her next shield throw more momentum. But seeing Telary fall from the corner of her eye throws her balance off, and her landing wobble gives her Nobody enemy time to press its own attack. He raises her shield to bock, but there’s no way she’ll be able to reach the wizard.

Telary rolls left as the sword comes down, facing the other way as it bites into the grass and sends up a cloud of dirt particles that plash against his back. He keeps rolling, avoiding the next sword strike as well. Facing his opponent once again, he raises his left hand, palm out and gathering fiery energy.

But it’s a moot point. The Nobody stiffens and explodes in a burst of silver particles, revealing the crouched form of King Mickey. He holds his golden Keyblade to the side, shining in the sun.

“Your Majesty!” Telary exclaims, getting a quick nod in reply before the mouse bounds off towards Azlyn.

The knight hears her lordships’ name and spares a second to glance over in Telary’s direction. Both of her opponent’s swords are trapped on the face of her shield, so she has time.

Mickey performs a flawless front flip, decapitating the two Samurai in one quick, clean stroke. He turns to help Sora, but the Keybearer already has his match in the bag.a

“You showed up right on time, Your Majesty,” Sora tells the small Keybearer with a grin.

“You know this… guy?” Hayner asks, shocked to see such a strange-looking fellow in his town.

“Sure do,” Azlyn says, looking down at the mouse with a grin that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “But it has been a while since we last saw each other.”

“Gosh, I’m real sorry about that, Az,” the king apologizes, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “I thought I could catch Xemnas, but… Anyway, I went to Hollow Bastion to track ya down, and Leon said you were comin’ here.”

“So, you’ve finally decided we’re good enough to hang around with?” Azlyn scoffs. Telary grimaces at the harsh tone, grabbing her wrist in what he hopes is a comforting manner.

“I came to see you because I found out where Ansem the Wise is,” Mickey says. “He snuck into Organization XIII’s stronghold for some reason.”

“How do you know that?” Telary asks.

“He left me a clue,” the king answers. “He told me to come to this mansion, and the path would be clear from there. Now, what are the three of you doing here?”

“We got a clue too,” Telary answers. “Sora thinks Riku might have left it.”

The Keybearer shrugs. “It was just a feeling I had.”

Mickey purses his lips, nodding slowly. “Well, that sounds solid. You’re probably right.”

Sora’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead. “So, you’re saying that Riku’s okay?”

“Uh…” the king hesitates, his eyes shifting warily. “If that’s what you…”

“Cut the crap, Your Majesty,” Azlyn says, her voice resolute. “If you know something…”

“ _Please_ ,” Sora begs with his most powerful puppy dog eyes.

Mickey turns away, unable to face Sora with that pleading look on his face. “I’m sorry, Sora. I just can’t break my promise!”

“Promise?” Sora repeats, pursing his lips thoughtfully. After a moment of contemplation a smile stretches across his face. “You made a promise to Riku, of course! That’s what’s with all the secrets. He must be okay then!”

Mickey claps his white-gloved hands over his mouth, wincing at his misstep.

“Who’s this Riku guy?” Hayner asks, not liking how he and his crew have been locked out of the conversation.

“He’s my best friend,” Sora answers proudly. “And it looks like I’m gonna get to see him again! He’ll be great to have along for helping Kairi.”

“When did you see Riku last, King Mickey?” Azlyn asks the monarch, her voice still hard. “You been palling around with him the last few days, huh?”

“For your information, Azlyn,” Mickey admonishes the knight, “it’s been quite some time since I last saw Riku. I’ve been alone since I saw you.”

“Did Riku give you that pouch with the crystal?” Olette asks. “Is that your promise, not to tell that…?”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Telary declares, his voice more authoritative than normal. Everyone looks at him, shocked. “Stop pestering the king you guys.”

Azlyn’s expression becomes a little harder at his words.

“You’re right,” Sora relents, turning towards the mansion. “We can talk about this later. For now, Kairi’s waiting.”

They enter the mansion together, despite the hostile looks Azlyn throws the Twilight Town kids.

“Ansem's clue mentioned something about a computer,” Mickey says, surveying the still-ruined interior. “We should search the place for it.”

“We know where it is,” Telary chimes in, raising his hand. “We saw it when we woke up here.”

“You were sleeping _here_?” Pence blurts. “I think that might be a health hazard, you guys.”

“Not, like, in beds,” Azlyn corrects snippily. “There were, uh, these pod things, y’see. And then we found a note that…”

“Come to think of it, we should have been more curious about that,” Telary says thoughtfully. “I mean, I guess we just kinda put it in the back of our minds once things started picking up.”

“It’s a real long story, guys,” Mickey explains as the group move to the library with the underground entrance.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette look around in fascination, almost disbelieving that such a thing could exist just outside their quiet little city.

“You were in trouble, and those pods were the best solution,” the mouse king continues to exposit. “Anything else would jeopardize my promise to…”

“Riku!” Sora cheers, fist pumping the air. “So he was in on that, huh? Man is he gonna have some explaining to do!”

“Me and him both,” Mickey mutters to himself.

They file into the computer room, a bit of a tight press considering all seven of them being stuffed inside. The machine sits in the same spot, all screens extinguished except the largest, still demanding a password.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Azlyn asks Mickey, her voice less harsh but still with a thin edge. “Get any more clues on your big solo journey?”

“I can handle that computer!” Pence speaks up, elbowing his way through the crowd towards the machine.

Azlyn opens her mouth to protest, to suggest Telary take care of it, when she feels her boyfriend’s hand on her shoulder.

“Let him have this,” the wizard whispers, nodding sympathetically to where Pence is taking his seat.

The pudgy teen surveys the machine for a few seconds, soon finding the keyboard arm and swinging it over to himself.

“It says it needs a password,” he reports, gesturing to the screen.

“This wasn’t in the note I got,” Mickey says, frowning. “Why would he not include such an important piece of information?”

“Maybe it wasn’t Ansem that gave you that clue at all,” Telary posits. “Maybe Riku communicated to you the same way he did us.”

“The picture led us to the mansion,” Sora says, thinking hard. “And the only other thing in that box was the ice cream bar Azlyn ate up.”

“And I threw up,” Telary recalls with a wrinkling grimace.

“It sure was great,” Azlyn states wistfully.

Mickey’s smiling. “Ah, yes. Ansem the Wise loved ice cream. And there was one specific flavor he liked the very best. Gosh, what was it?”

“The bar we got was awesome,” Azlyn says, thinking back and unconsciously rubbing her stomach. “Like, it was nice and sweet, but at the same time…”

“Sweet and salty!” Telary cries out triumphantly, like he’s just solved an impossible math proof. “Sea-Salt ice cream!”

“Oh, I love that stuff!” Pence happily concurs.

“How do you know that name?” Sora asks his older friend.

“Okay, do you guys remember the 1st time we got access to the DTD on Ansem's computer?” Telary asks, pausing a moment to let his friends nod the affirmative. “That picture came up with us as kids, we were having a picnic with Ansem the Wise.”

“The one I saw before I told you all the truth about Xehanort!” Mickey picks up.

“Exactly. At the time when I saw it I had no idea, but suddenly I just got stuck with this brainstorm.” The wizard leans back, a wistful nostalgia overcoming him. “I’m not sure it was that day, but on one of our picnics he brought out that ice cream. Sea-salt ice cream. I ate one and I just couldn’t get enough. When grandma wasn’t looking I snuck another one. Then Azlyn and Kairi went off to play with the flowers and Ansem gave me a third bar.”

He grimaces, shaking his head as the memory turns unpleasant. “I got about halfway through that one before I puked. I mean _puked_! I guess I had a little too much. Anyway, the next picnic came and Ansem gave me an ice cream. But I must have formed some kind of psychosomatic trigger, and all it took was a single lick.”

“That’s why you puked in the Realm of Darkness!” Sora exclaims. “Your psychochromatic thingy acted up again!”

“Exactly,” Telary confirms with a single sharp nod.

“So, what’s the password exactly?” Pence asks tentatively, not sure if story time is over.

“Sea-Salt Ice Cream,” Azlyn answers confidently, smiling at her man.

“You guys are even weirder than I thought,” Hayner comments as his friend methodically types in the password. “Nothing like this ever happened to us before you three showed up.”

“I guess we did sorta mess up your nice lives, huh?” Sora says sheepishly. He knows what that’s like, everything known and comfortable swept away at once.

“Don’t say that like it’s a bad thing!” Olette playfully admonishes him. “This is a great summer vacation!”

Everything sort of goes quiet then, and Sora turns his head to a closed door at the end of the underground hallway. He knows what’s beyond there remembers clearly the white room in which he’d awoken. But there’s something else too, some hidden memory that just won’t…

_“My summer vacation is… over.”_

“It worked!” Pence exclaims. Everyone moves to stare over his shoulders at the screen, a complex system of numbers and letters cascading down it in code.

“Well now what?” Azlyn asks bluntly. “Can anybody here read that stuff?”

“It’s outside of my realm of expertise,” Pence admits, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Beyond me,” Telary concurs.

Sora has to look away. “Anybody else getting kinda dizzy?”

A thin, high-pitched whine slowly builds through the air. Everyone looks right, to the source of the sound. Set into the wall there is a small cylinder of free space, an odd machine hanging down from above it. This is what’s emitting the noise, and suddenly a white beam shoots down a few inches, hovering innocuously in the air.

“This looks to be it,” Mickey declares, taking a step closer and scrutinizing the beam carefully.

“Is it some kind of teleporter?” Pence asks.

“Alien technology if I ever saw it,” Hayner chimes in with a confident nod.

“Whatever it is, it should lead us to that other Twilight Town,” Sora says, stepping closer to the beam. “If Kairi’s there, we’ll find her.”

“We’ll be here to hold down the fort,” Olette assures the Keybearer. “Say hi to Kairi for us when you see her, alright?”

“Sure will,” Sora promises, smiling at the trio of normal kids. In a way, he envies the fact that this will probably be as strange as their lives ever get.

Azlyn and Telary say quick goodbyes before the trio and Mickey step into the alcove, reaching up for the light. The whine powers up again, the beam of light glowing steadily brighter. It reminds the trio of the digitization machine that sent them to Tron’s world. Despite being mostly prepared, the sensation is the same: nerves, fear of an unknown destination. On the other side of this beam, anything could await them.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Anything” turns out to be an exact replica of the room they were just in, sans Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

“Huh,” Telary says, stepping out of the alcove. “I guess when they said ‘alternate Twilight Town’ they really meant it. It’s almost like nothing…”

“Uh, something’s changed,” Azlyn corrects, gesturing to the side. Everyone follows her gaze over to the computer, once again exactly like the one they’d just utilized.

Except this computer is smashed, every screen cracked as if brutally attacked.

For a moment Sora feels a strange sensation, his heart suddenly filled with rage. In his mind’s eye, _he_ is the one smashing this damned machine, the instrument of his imprisonment.

“What do you think happened to it?” Telary asks, examining the damage critically. It’s far too extensive to retrieve any data from.

“Somebody wrecked it,” Azlyn announces. “Probably the Organization did it so we can’t get any info out of it.”

“Well, whatever happened to this computer isn’t real important right now,” Mickey states, getting everyone back on track. “There’s gotta be a way into the dark realm around here somewhere. Maybe we should split up and look.”

Azlyn reaches down to firmly fix a hand on the king’s shoulder. “Oh no, Your Majesty. You’re staying right where I can see you!”

The pair head off down an open corridor, but Sora hangs back. He still can’t get the thought out of his head, anger swimming inside and driving him to hate the broken machine before him.

“You okay there?” Telary asks the Keybearer, placing a hand on his shoulder and breaking him out of his fugue state.

“Uh, sure I am,” Sora replies, grinning at his friend without much feeling. “It’s just that, uh, this place is kind of messing me up, y’know? Being in another Twilight Town. _His_ Twilight Town.”

Telary’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Whose Twilight Town, Sora?”

The boy pauses, tryin to catch a thought far too slippery for him. “Uh… I’m not sure.”

“You guys!” Azlyn’s voice echoes from down the hall. “Come on, I think we found it!”

Shaking his head to fully clear it, Sora forges on ahead after the knight’s voice. Telary follows along, concerned for everyone. With Sora spacey and Azlyn clinging to the king like a leech, things are certainly not all right with his friends.

They enter a large room, empty and nondescript but for one single feature: a small round portal hovering in the air, green energy surrounded by flickering wisps of black mist.

“I’d say this is our dark realm entrance,” Mickey declares, his eyes hardened with resolution. “You’d better make sure you’re ready.”

“I’m ready alright,” Sora swears, clenching his fist as he thinks of Kairi. “Let’s do this.”

“Together,” Telary adds, touching Azlyn’s shoulder and looking pointedly down at Mickey.

The small Keybearer nods. “Right. Together.”

Sora enters the portal first. For a moment everything is black, then suddenly a cold feeling ignites around his heart. It feels greasy somehow, utterly _wrong_.

His vision clears soon enough, and he finds himself in the midst of a vast space. It stretches as far as he can see, and further still. All round is nothing but misty colors and what appear to be faded Nobody symbols flying across the landscape.

“Is this the dark realm?” Telary asks, looking around. He’s grimacing, the cold feeling attacking his heart as well. “Looks nothing like the last time we were here.”

“It just looks like nothing to me,” Azlyn chimes in, frowning as she surveys the infinite space. “So, do we just…?”

“RIKU!” Sora yells into the void, hands cupped around his mouth. “KAIRI! WHERE ARE YOU, IT’S ME SORA!!!”

“Hm, there’s gotta be an exit somewhere,” Mickey says, surveying the area critically. “Okay, I’ll go and try to find a place for us to get out.” The mouse king rushes off, growing smaller and smaller as he journeys further on.

“What did I tell you about…? Your Majesty!” Azlyn grunts angrily and takes off sprinting after the king, shield in hand.

“Azlyn, we need to stay… Azlyn!” Telary runs off as well, forgoing drawing his weapon to increase speed.

Sora watches them go for a long moment, still somewhat distracted by this odd pressure on his heart. It’s gone from being uncomfortable to nearly painful, like a dark hand is slowly squeezing the core of him.

He’s so distracted, he almost doesn’t notice the sound of Nobodies arriving. He hears the telltale slippery whisper of a Dusk flying through the air just in time. The Keyblade appears in his hand with its normal flash, Sora turning and cutting through the diving creature with moments to spare.

There are more where that came from, though. Dozens, maybe even hundred, more. Sora’s eyes go wide and he takes a step back, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the enemies arrayed against him.

For a long moment it’s a standoff, the two forces staring each other down. Sora feels almost paralyzed, unsure of what to do first, how to even begin facing these enemies. Back in the wastes of Hollow Bastion it had been easy to race into the stream of Heartless. His heart had been strong then, and so sure. Now, with this dark corruption holding his heart…

Without warning, a column of fire erupts in the midst of the enemy forces. Another follows a few feet away, then a third.

Sora is almost dumbstruck again, until he hears a familiar voice call out, “Don’t just stand around!”

Suddenly, a wave of flames rushes through the midline of the Dusk armada. Axel rides at the wave’s head, chakrams in hand. After breaking the enemy’s front lines, he does a neat somersault to land at Sora’s side.

“If you don’t keep moving, the darkness will overtake you,” the Nobody huffs, wiping sweat off his brow with one sleeve. He looks off, pale, and his cheeks even more gaunt than usual. His posture is unsteady too, lilting to one side.

Axel’s attack has roused the Dusks from their complacency, and suddenly they’re charging forward, slithering through the air like a mass of white snakes.

Sora finds a gap between two Nobodies and dives in to avoid being rammed into. It gives him enough time to slash through a Dusk, then dart to the side and destroy another. The creatures have ceased their charge for now, instead surrounding him like an eager mob.

White tendrils slap everywhere in his vision, more of them hitting him than not. Though the Keybearer gives as good as he gets, the sheer numbers of his foes are just overwhelming.

Until Axel comes screaming in again, flames bursting up all around him to reduce Dusks to cinders. What his flames don’t roast his chakrams savage, clearing back the wave of monsters.

“C’mon, kid,” the humanlike Nobody quips with a jaunty grin. “Ain’t you supposed to be the master of that thing? Ya can’t let a buncha Dusks push you around like this.”

Axel’s words stir something in Sora, and suddenly his heart feels light again. It’s as if some force is pushing back gainst the encroaching darkness of the in between realm, freeing him from its distracting corruption.

He grits his teeth and rushes forward again, meeting Dusks head on. Dodging and slashing in equal measure, he manages to cut a sizable swath through the enemy forces. But still they come, wearying even strengthened resolve.

Two Nobodies of a kind Sora has never seen before, like hunched over figures in long-sleeved coats, glide gracefully through the air at Axel. Their arms slash at him, and the flame-haired man barely dodges. Once again his movements seem off, and he winces in pain at even sidestepping.

The pain on his friend’s face is what does it for Sora, sparking another surge that his him diving towards the advanced Nobodies with a loud cry of righteous fury. He skid to a stop and uppercuts, neatly decapitating one Assassin. The other swings for him, but he slaps away its appendage.

The creature takes in the momentum of the slap, pirouetting and driving its other arm even harder at the Keybearer. It smacks into his torso, sending the boy sliding to one side. He’s hurt, but Axel now has enough time to send a chakram spinning through the Nobody’s midsection. It disappears in a flash of sparks.

“Yeesh,” Axel whoops, shaking his head as a column of flame incinerates three diving Dusks. “Y’know, I think I liked it a lot better when these creeps were on my side.”

“Feeling some regret there, Axel?” Sora quips, smiling up at his unlikely ally. “Or are ya just losing your touch?”

Axel chuckles, his grin thin but present. “Naw, I got nothin’ to worry about from these punks.”

“You’re looking a little pale though,” Sora says, his smile fading as he realizes just how true that statement is. If Axel looked bad before, he seems positively spent now. Every breath is a labored huff, and his coloring is nearly the same as the Nobodies surrounding them.

“To tell the truth, I’m not feeling so hot,” Axel admits, slashing his chakram through an approaching Dusk. “This isn’t the first mob I’ve faced today. But, I think it’s the last.”

“Axel?” Sora tentatively says.

The flame-haired man gives the Keybearer one last small grin, tinged with regret and a low note of apology. “Still got one trick left up my sleeve. Get down!”

Sora opens his mouth to protest, somehow already knowing what “one last trick” is code for. But before he can utter a single word, a hard shove from Axel sends him to the ground. The impact is harsh, but he recovers quickly and tries to rise, hoping he can get to Axel before…

An explosion of light and heat surrounds him. All thoughts of rising are abandoned, and he tucks his head into his chest, arms over his head. It lasts two seconds that seem much longer than they truly are. When it’s over, cool air rushes over Sora.

He stands slowly, raising his head as he tentatively surveys the landscape. Once again it is empty, all Nobodies vanquished except for one.

“Axel!” Sora cries, anguish gripping his heart worse than the darkness of the between realm. He rushes to the redheaded man’s side.

Axel lies still, his arms splayed out to either side. Wisps of pitch-black smoke rise from his body, larger particles floating inside them. His face is carefully neutral, betraying nothing.

“You’re fading away,” Sora states, his breath nearly hitching as he says the words. He’s not sure why this is making him so sad, the end of someone who could hardly be considered more than an enemy.

“Well, that’s what happens when you give an attack everything you’ve got,” Axel quips, grinning slyly despite his situation. “Though I guess, being a Nobody and all, I ain’t got much have I?”

“You had enough to save me.”

Axel nods, little more than a weak lift of his head. “I did, didn’t I?” His grin is wider now, almost a genuine smile. “Well, I guess that’ll have to be good enough. Anyway, go get Kairi. She’ll be in the castle dungeon.” He hesitates, pursing his lips. “This is gonna sound crazy, but could ya tell her I’m sorry when you see her?”

Sora shakes his head. Behind him, he’s dimly aware of his companions approaching. “I won’t need to. You can tell that yourself!”

Another small, coughing laugh rises from the fading Nobody. “Yeah, think I’ll pass. My heart just wouldn’t be in it, y’know?”

Behind Sora, Azlyn starts to take a step closer, only for Telary to hold her back. For whatever reason, this seems like a moment best not intruded upon.

“Why did you do all this?” Sora asks. He has to know. If taking Kairi hadn’t been on the Organization’s behalf, then what purpose did it serve? And why come to his rescue? It just doesn’t add up.

“I wanted to see Roxas again,” Axel replies simply, like Sora should know what that means. He knows it has nothing to do with his alias in the Chinese Army now, has heard it too many times to still think that. “He was the only one I liked.” He sighs wistfully. “My only friend. Made me feel like I had a heart.”

Axel looks up at Sora, the pair locking eyes. He chuckles weakly. “Y’know, it’s kinda funny, now I think about it. You almost make me feel the same. Like I truly exist.”

Tears are flowing down Sora’s face now, unbidden but potent. They fall from his cheeks onto Axel’s cloak, evaporating as they impact against it. How can Axel be saying this, talking about not existing? He’s here now, reminiscing about a lost friend. That seems real enough, by Sora’s metric.

Axel closes his eyes briefly, and when they open again the melancholy is gone from them. In its place is only steely resolve, shining from his bright green eyes. He weakly lifts a hand, and a few yards away another portal forms.

“Go save her,” Axel says, his voice thin and reedy. “Fix my mistakes. Fix all of my mistakes, Sora. Roxas…”

With that final utterance of his friend’s name, Axel disappears into darkness.

“Oh, Axel,” Sora sighs, staring blankly at the barren place where the flame-haired Nobody once lay.

“What happened?” Telary asks, kneeling beside his friend. Azlyn takes to Sora’s other side, just as sympathetic.

“He sacrificed himself for me,” Sora answers, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of it all. There are so many questions unanswered, so many gaps in his knowledge. It seems like there always are, things others see not fit to tell him. Secrets hidden in places he cannot reach.

“We’ll honor that sacrifice,” Mickey says resolutely. “We may not know why Axel did what he did, but we can at least keep his last wishes. C’mon, fellas. It’s time to end this.”

Sora rises, wobbling as he goes. But Telary and Azlyn are there to steady him, keep him from falling again. If this Roxas was half as good a friend to Axel as these two are to him, then he can understand why the Nobody would’ve desired a reunion with him.

The portal’s emerald green center reminds Sora for a split second of Axel’s eyes. But he pushes away the thought, focusing on the task ahead. As Mickey said, Axel gave his life for a reason, to give Sora and his friends a chance.

“Let’s finish this,” he declares, stepping into the portal with his friends by his side. He clears his mind as he goes, focused on the task ahead.

Axel can rest peacefully now. But in Sora’s heart, someone else awakens.


	46. A Good Other

They emerge from Axel’s last portal into a dark alley, surrounded on three sides by buildings stretching high into the sky. Only a trio of glowing neon signs illuminate the area, creating patches of blue, yellow, and red light. Trash blows along the pavement as a gust of wind funnels through. The sky is dark, and clouds threaten rain.

Sora can immediately feel the corrupting Darkness of the realm behind retreating. It doesn’t fade entirely, but now it feels less like a vice grip and more like a circling vulture.

Mickey evidently notices his young friends’ mildly distraught looks. “Yeah, I still feel it too. This world must be pretty darned close to Darkness to still have this effect.”

“Is it bad?” Telary asks warily, unconsciously laying a hand over his heart.

“Naw, it shouldn’t do ya any harm,” the mouse king assures him. “But don’t let it distract ya. As close as this place is to the dark, I’d bet you anything the city’s crawling with Heartless.”

“Well, why shouldn’t it be?” Azlyn sighs, leading the way down the alley. There’s a bend up ahead, brighter light shining over the area.

They stand at the alley’s exit, a vast city of tall dark buildings greeting them. But that holds far less interest than the bright, heart-shaped moon shining above. Or the massive white castle hovering in front of it, a black Nobody symbol practically daring them forward.

“That’s where Kairi is,” Sora declares, his voice steady despite the obvious intimidation of the fortress. Inside a dungeon, waiting for his help to escape. The very thought of it stirs the Keybearer’s fists to clench so tightly it’s almost painful.

“Why do bad guys always have to make their fortresses look so gloomy?” Telary sighs. “I mean, would it kill them to at least experiment with some primary colors?”

“You can take up the Organization on their decorating choices when we get there,” Azlyn says, playfully nudging her boyfriend’s shoulder. “Now, let’s go kick some… Your Majesty!”

The knight’s cries are futile, the Keybearing monarch already lost in the maze of streets. Azlyn unleashes a guttural glower, knocking over a pair of trash cans with a kick. They clatter to the ground, empty.

It seems the sound serves a signal, because as the echoes begin to fade a dozen Shadows rise up. Their antennae twitch in eager anticipation, hunger in their otherwise empty yellow eyes.

“Well,” Sora declares, his tone resigned, “isn’t this just typical?”

**The World That Never Was**

It takes Kairi precisely twenty steps to go from one side of her cell to the other. This means basically nothing, except that Kairi has had a _lot_ of time on her hands.

And yet, no matter how long the hours seem to pass into days (she’s sure it’s been that long by now, but with no way to make proper judgements or calculations everything is guesswork), the Princess of Heart remains the same. She’s never gotten hungry, never felt the urge to seek a bathroom, and her clothes remain in the same condition as when she arrived. It’s not a very good condition, since she’d traipsed around several worlds in them during a madcap chase, but it’s the same.

She hates this, waiting, knowing that Sora is somewhere out among the worlds searching for her. Days (or maybe weeks, she can’t tell) ago, working on her raft, she’d truly believed that perhaps this time _she_ could be to one to rescue him.

But it seems that’s not to be, as now Sora’s arrived in this world, ready to storm whatever castle she’s locked in and…

Kairi stops pacing, placing a careful hand over her heart. “He’s here,” she says, suddenly knowing that as indisputable fact. “But how do I…?”

“You two really have something special, don’t ya?”

The voice, the first Kairi’s heard in a while, startles her. She jumps with a start, turning to face outside her cell. A man in the same coat Saïx and Axel had worn stands there, casually leaning on a strange white sculpture placed on the edge of the floating catwalk. Only one eye gazes back at her, the other covered by a black eyepatch.

“Who are you?” she asks, fixing the man with her best scowl. “Another member of this Organization thing?”

The man in black cocks his head, frowning. “Sorry, girl, afraid I can’t hear ya. Mind speaking up?”

Kairi opens her mouth to repeat her question, but the words die in her throat as an idea suddenly hits her. She rearranges her features into a defiant look.

“You already kidnapped me and put me in this cell,” she mutters, voice even quieter than before. “If you think I’m further straining myself for you in any way…”

“Geeze,” the Organization member sighs, shaking his head. He waves his hand, and Kairi’s cell begins floating closer to the platform. It moves about twelve feet then stops with a brief wobble. “For a sunshine Light-heart girl, you sure as hell got a rude streak about ya.”

“If we’re talking about being rude,” Kairi replies, “then how about you, not even giving me your name?”

The man smiles. “Xigbar, Number II in Organization XIII, your current happy hosts.”

“Organization XIII,” she repeats, mulling it over in her head.

“All you need to know, little girl, is that we’re ‘the bad guys’,” Xigbar says with accompanying air quotes. “Sora’s here in this world, as you know, to come and stop us.”

“He’ll do it, too,” Kairi declares boldly. “And when I get out of here, I’ll help him!”

Xigbar throws his head back and laughs, shaking his head. “Yeah, as if little girl. You’re just the little princess, waiting around for your knight to come to the rescue.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Sure thing, little girl,” Xigbar says dismissively, opening a portal of darkness. “Whatever you say.”

Kairi remains still as the portal closes, tightly gripping the bars of her cell. She continues not to move for a few seconds after, eyes darting across the hovering walkway.

Once she’s sure the coast is clear, she drops to the floor of her cell. That man had been annoying, but at least he’d managed to inadvertently help her out.

She looks up at the sculpture on the platform, making a quick mental calculation of its distance. Once she deems everything to be in its proper place for her escape to work, she reaches down and begins quickly untying her shoes.

**KH-KH-KH**

The streets of the dark city prove themselves to be little more than wider alleyways, twisting and turning between looming buildings. Sora and his companions have taken to choosing directions more or less randomly, trying to always keep mindful of the flying white fortress ahead.

It’s a difficult enough task by itself, made even worse by the hordes of shadowy Heartless that emerge to attack them at every opportunity.

Shadows, normally so weak and ineffectual as to be no threat at all, prove themselves far more impressive in great numbers. The small creatures fall easily, but there seem to always be more to take their place. It’s a small mercy that, for some unknown reason, no pink crystalline hearts rise from the defeated creatures.

Sora leads the charge, Azlyn following closely along behind him while Telary keeps back to better utilize the wide-area effects of his spells. The wizard takes care to only use as much power as he needs in any given spell, wary of running out of stamina at an inopportune moment.

Azlyn is, unsurprisingly, going as hard as she can against the menacing bugs. She tries her best to keep a lookout for King Mickey while she does, but in her heart she knows that the king isn’t going to appear unless they make a conscious effort to keep up. The knight keeps her shield close at hand for slashing, unable to afford losing it for even a second when surrounded by so many enemies.

As he fights through the horde, Sora can’t help but experience and odd feeling of déjà vu. He tries to put it down to general familiarity with fighting Heartless, but somehow that’s not right. It’s more than just Heartless, something about this city, and even the castle above, is unrelentingly familiar.

It recalls the time he visited Hollow Bastion castle, Kairi’s heart responding within him to the familiar surroundings. But that’s an absurd comparison. Someone else resting inside him is a far-out enough concept to consider once, let alone twice. There must be something else.

The Keybearer sweeps the head off a rising Shadow, letting his guard down for half a second. Plenty of time for the larger Neoshadow following in its brethren’s wake to spring an attack.

Sora gasps and falls back, raising the Keyblade in front of his body to block the enemy. But even as fast as his reflexes have become, it’s too little too late. The Neoshadow barrels into him, scratching at his torso with its razor sharp claws.

Once again the magical protection of the good fairies’ garments prevents him from being disemboweled, but all the same he feels the pain of the monster’s claws. Further pain comes when his back smacks into the pavement, unyielding force sending shockwaves through his body.

He attempts to maneuver as the Heartless raises its claw again, but another flash of pain stops him. At any rate, the creature is too far inside his range to make the Keyblade of any use, and his focus is too scattered to attempt any of the few spells he knows. The claw rakes against his chest, and Sora yelps.

Then suddenly the pressure is relieved, shadowy wisps floating in the air above his head. Sora groans and pushes himself up, leaning on his elbows for support while he looks around. Azlyn and Telary are several yards away, fighting Heartless with abandon and completely ignoring him. It seems unlikely either of them had a hand in his rescue.

He takes a moment to simply breathe, confident his companions can hold their own for a second while he catches his breath. It’s the first time he’s had a chance in several minutes, and he needs the small break.

But he only allows himself a quick moment before regaining his feet, Keyblade in hand and ready to assist.

Lightning flashes in the sky above, and suddenly rain is falling. It’s no light shower either, thick sheets of water falling as if sprayed from a hose somewhere in the moonlit sky. Thunder follows its electrical counterpart a few heartbeats later, a deep boom that seems to shake the tall buildings above.

Sora looks up as another flash illuminates the dark sky, briefly fascinated by its brilliance. The next roar of thunder shakes him from his stupor, and his gaze falls back to the ground.

Where at the bend of an alley, a silver-haired young man in a black coat stands unmoving.

Sora gasps, blinking rapidly to dispel the image before him. But no matter how he tries, the young man remains staring straight at him, eyes hidden by a black line of cloth.

“What?” Sora breathes, stumbling forward a step. “Riku?”

His best friend says nothing, only turns to walk out of sight. Without thinking, Sora sprints after him. Everything else seems to fall from his head, even momentary concern for Azlyn and Telary slipping out. Right now, all that matters is seeing Riku again.

He skids to a stop at the bend in the alley, turning and casting his gaze about for the silver-haired youth. He’s nowhere to be found, but the alley opens up into an empty plaza. Sora sprints off again, determined not to lose Riku.

The plaza is empty as well, a few hundred square feet of bare asphalt surrounded by the ubiquitous black skyscrapers. One building, however, stands not around the plaza, but smack in the middle, rising into the air like a spear. A flight of steps lead to its closed doors, sinister gargoyles seeming to guard it.

It draws the eye up, to a conglomeration of several blank white screens beneath the solitary spike of its spire. Riku stands before the lowest, and largest, screen, staring down passively at Sora.

The Keybearer opens his mouth to call out to his friend, but before he can another lightning bolt splits the sky. Its brightness is blinding, and it takes several seconds for Sora’s vision to clear. When it does, Riku is gone and another clap of thunder shakes the city.

“What?” Sora declares, his jaw dropping open in disbelief. He’s losing his mind, he must be! Perhaps Mickey was mistaken, and the Darkness this world borders is as corrupting as that of the lane between. Or maybe he spent too long there, the vile energy attacking his heart…

The unmistakable sound of a dark portal’s opening flares up behind him, and Sora swivels to face it. For a long moment the entrance merely stands open, dark wisps floating out of it like a flower’s pollen. Then someone emerges, dressed in the trademark black coat and hood of Organization XIII.

Sora takes a step back, the Keyblade appearing in a flash. The figure, of a similar height and body shape as him, cocks his head curiously. Energy gathers in his right hand as well, a deep violet and black rather than pure white.

A blade forms through the darkness, black as night with a long rectangular shaft ending in a gleaming spike. The wings of demons surround its handle, flowing out from a purple jewel in the pommel. A black chain falls from the hilt and ends in a crown, much like the pendant Sora wears.

“A Keyblade?” Sora exclaims, eyes widening in shock and horror. And the blade is familiar too, a design he’s seen somewhere before… “You can’t be…?”

There’s no chance to finish his thought, as the hooded man charges. He raises his black blade high, sweeping it down to connect with Sora’s. The pair struggle against one another, neither willing nor able to give any quarter.

They’re face to face now, close enough for Sora to peer into the featureless darkness of the Nobody’s hood. But try as he might, he sees nothing. Only a black abyss, seemingly endless and sucking him closer…

_In a flash the city fades away, and the abyss surrounds the pair on all sides. They do battle on a platform of blue stained glass, vying for dominance across softly glowing images of Sora and his most precious friends. A second Keyblade has appeared in the hooded man’s other hand, the soft-white metal of Oathkeeper gleaming in the sourceless light illuminating the dais from above._

_They’re parted when the battle begins, facing off across the platform. They charge each other immediately, raising their weapons and leaping up to meet each other. Kingdom Key and Oathkeeper clash, releasing a spark of light._

_Sora quickly disengages, sidestepping the falling Oblivion before it can connect. The hooded man turns quickly with both blades swinging, Sora barely holding his weapon perpendicular to the floor and catching both of them. He has to step back, his foot resting on an image of Azlyn’s cockily grinning face._

_With his arms engaged in the lock, Sora snaps out a kick to his opponent’s shin. It knocks the mysterious man off balance, sending him stumbling backwards. Sora takes the advantage and charges again, the Nobody barely able to raise Oathkeeper to knock away his next blow._

_But his recovery time is quick, and in the span of a heartbeat he glides across the floor, away from Sora. A white glow surrounds his body as he goes, taking him to a place where he can recover._

_Sora tracks the man as he moves, a difficult but not impossible task at that speed. The second his enemy pauses, the Kingdom Key wielder raises his blade to the sky, summoning a spark of lightning that startles the hooded man off his game. If Sora had bothered to look down, he’d notice the portrait of Telary, smiling one of his famed comforting smiles, he’s standing on._

_The dual wielder seems to have recovered, leaping forward and spinning into a midair somersault. His Keyblades spin along with him, flanked on each side by two pillars of blueish light topped with the Nobody symbol. Sora gasps and dives to the side, the outer right pillar passing by so close he can feel its heat against his leg._

_He rolls and rises back into battle position, just in time to notice his opponent, once again surrounded by light and moving toward him impossibly fast. He sidesteps as the hooded man stops, hovering in the air and sending his Keyblades, whirling like buzzsaws, out in front of him. With his opponent’s flank left open, Sora charges in._

_But the Nobody somehow senses his move, turning with the blades in front of him still spinning. Sora gasps and skids to his knees, his nose inches away from the deadly weapons. As his slide squeaks to a halt against the glass, he leans forward to find himself staring down at Riku’s stained glass portrait._

_“Riku,” he whispers, recalling the image of his silver-haired friend that had drawn him away from Azlyn and Telary, into this insane confrontation. It must have been this Nobody’s doing, but that hardly answers any questions._

_Hearing footsteps against glass, Sora rises and turns, his blade held up to catch both of his opponent’s against its smooth silver shaft. He gazes into the darkness of the hood again, searching for any hint of an identity and finding none._

_“Who are you?” he demands, pushing against the black and white blades._

_“Someone from the dark,” the Nobody replies, voice dull and dreary._

_They break apart, leaping back several feet to once again face each other across a field of glass. Free to eye his opponent, Sora does some quick mental work._

_“You can’t be…” He chokes out, scarcely believing what he’s about to say. “Riku?”_

_The figure says nothing, straightening out of his battle stance. “Riku,” he repeats, Keyblades twitching in his hands as he speaks the name. “I… I defeated a Riku once.”_

_A gasp passes unbidden from Sora’s lips, his chest tightening at his enemy’s words. “Defeated… You_ what _?”_

_Shock turns to anger, and the boy’s grip on his Keyblade tightens. The hooded man crouches in response, the tips of his blades resting on the floor._

_“Why was it you?” the Nobody asks, voice a potent mix of rage and sorrow. “Why did it have to be you?”_

_He charges, blades kicking up a trail of sparks behind him. Sora stands his ground, unable to react much beyond raising his blade before his opponent reaches him. Oathkeeper and Oblivion’s combined force nearly breaks his arm, his feet sliding back several inches before he can secure their grip on the stained glass._

_Sora twists his body for better leverage, bracing his left hand against Kingdom Key’s silver shaft. The hooded man grunts, lets up the pressure of his blades by the barest of pascals, and leaps into a twisting midair flip that would make Azlyn jealous. He swings down as he descends, and Sora’s block seems to push him off, higher into the air. This time the hooded man flips away from Sora, landing on the platform a few feet away._

_Now it’s Sora’s turn to charge, and he does. Screaming a wordless battle cry, he leaps up with his blade held high. Oathkeeper blocks his downswing, and this time it’s Sora who goes flying up into the air. The hooded man wastes no time leaping after, swords drawn back for another strike. Sora twists to block, his momentum flipping his body upwards. With a grunt he adds just the slightest amount of force, sending him down to the platform while his enemy flies higher. He lands on the stained glass with a loud noise, in the midst of his closest friends’ portraits._

_The figure above hovers there, observing intently. Sora doesn’t waver, Kingdom Key held out in a cautious guard stance. Beneath his feet, the stained glass portraits subtly glow._

_“I see,” the Nobody declares, melancholy sorrow in every syllable. “That’s why.”_

_Before Sora can ask what his opponent is talking about, he’s already back on the platform and charging, swinging his blades in wide arcs with every step. Taken by surprise, Sora can only step back as quickly as his legs will allow, occasionally catching a glancing blow._

_As they approach the platform’s edge, the Nobody ceases playing around. Spinning once, he slams both blades down at Sora’s head. The Keybearer grunts and raises the blade parallel to the platform, deflecting the double blow. But the hooded man doesn’t stop there, hammering one blade down, then the next. He repeats this pattern, the strong blows threatening Sora’s strength._

_But it’s more than just physical force. As Oathkeeper and Oblivion clash against the Kingdom Key, Sora finds himself assaulted just as fiercely from within. Sounds and images wash over him, appearing hazily before his eyes._

_But even more, there seems to be an incongruence between the memories. In half of them, a blond boy laughs with his three friends, walking down twilit streets with ice cream in hand. In the other half, the same boy is dressed all in black, exploring white halls. The individual images are far too indistinct for him to process, but there’s a definite difference in feeling between them._

_Finally it all becomes too much. Sora feels his knee collapse beneath him, sending him kneeling to the floor. He drops a hand from Kingdom Key to steady himself, and with an almost negligent swipe of Oathkeeper, the hooded man sends his blade flying. It lands several feet away, bouncing twice before sliding to a halt._

_Sora watches it land, a sudden burst of energy driving back the confusion, weariness, and fatigue. Gritting his teeth, he leaps forward, skidding after the lost blade. But he reaches it too late, hand moving for the hilt just as the tip of Oathkeeper slams down into the square handguard around the hilt._

_Looking up, Sora has to cross his eyes to see the black spike of Oblivion. It hovers mere inches from his nose. Gulping down a quick breath, he looks up and into the black stillness of the man’s hood._

_“And where are they now?” the Nobody asks, voice cold and hard as the black steel of his blade. “Where are all your friends, Sora?”_

_Sora’s mouth gapes open, hundreds of possible responses dying on his lips. He thinks of them: Kairi, trapped in the belly of the Organization’s stronghold. Riku, so burdened by something that he forbade Mickey to speak of him. Azlyn and Telary, somewhere in the dark city fighting hordes of Heartless._

_In the end, he can give only one answer to his opponent’s question._

_He reaches out his right hand, gathering power. “They’re waiting for me!”_

_The Kingdom Key disappears in a flash, the sound and light disturbing the hooded man._

_“What?” he exclaims, the fabric of his hood quivering in surprise._

_A second flash, like a response to the first, appears over Sora’s hand in the usual summoning ritual of the Keyblade. Light becomes metal at the speed of thought, until Sora feels his hands wrapping around the solid hilt…_

_The hooded man is too shocked to move, to react beyond a slight gasp as Sora rises, Kingdom Key held high._

_The blade falls._

_A small, choked off sound emerges from the mystery man’s hood. His hands go limp, Keyblades dropping to the stained glass floor and dissolving into light. He stumbles forward a step, his head falling back and his hood along with it._

**_KH-KH-KH_ **

**_He felt… odd._ **

**_Lying in the grass, feeling it prick and tickle against his bare skin. He raised his head, assuring himself this was real. He looked down at his body, mercifully clad in clothes. Fine strands of blond hair drift over his forehead._ **

**_He sat up, observing his surroundings now. To his right laid the entrance to a forest, tall trees and a thick canopy of leaves. To his left, a massive stone wall with a sealed iron gate. Beyond that, an elaborate mansion._ **

**_He stood, shaky and weak as a newborn calf. But he fought it, achieving balance just as the black portal opened._ **

**_A man emerged, clad all in black with a raised hood obscuring his features._ **

**_The blond-haired kid watched passively, unable to conjure up even the slightest feeling of surprise. He was mostly numb, only the slightest prickle of something undefinable._ **

**_“Well,” the cloaked man said simply, his voice gravelly and rough, “what a day this has turned out to be.”_ **

**_“What a day?” the blond young man repeated, his mouth unfamiliar with even the most basic of speech skills. But still the words lingered, some unknown section of his mind assigning meaning to each one._ **

**_“You are different,” the mystery man said smoothly. “An interesting case, I should think. How novel.” A pause, contemplative. “You seek answers. You seek an identity.”_ **

**_The young man said nothing, did nothing. Only stared up, blue eyes locking onto an orange pair visible within the hood._ **

**_The cloaked man said nothing else, only waved one black-gloved hand through the air. In a flash, four letters appear, transparent blue like finely worked glass. S,O,R,A._ **

**_Sora._ **

**_“I can give you what you desire,” the cloaked man said. “I can give you a purpose.”_ **

**_The letters spin around the boy, too fast for his eyes to follow. They spin and keep spinning, until a golden flash lights the space before his eyes._ **

**_The letter X, shining gold like the clouds above. The blue letters have stopped spinning, rearranged themselves around the X. R,O,X,A,S._ **

**_“Roxas,” the young man said slowly, getting used to the word._ **

**_“That is right,” his mysterious benefactor declared, his hood dipping up and down in a slight nod. “Roxas. Your name. The new you.”_ **

**_KH-KH-KH_ **

_“Roxas,” Sora says slowly, in an exact imitation of the boy in the memory. The boy now standing before him, dressed in the black cloak of the Organization. “That’s you. And before that, there was my name, so…”_

_The Keybearer’s eyes widen, his mouth falling open. A sudden pain beats in time with his heart, dull but with the memory of something much sharper._

_“You got it, I see,” Roxas replies, smiling sardonically despite his obvious pain. “I guess you aren’t as dense as everyone said.”_

_“I think… I think I should have thought about it before,” Sora says, grinning weakly. “At least, the possibility. But…”_

_“Some things are hard to accept, or even think about,” Roxas cuts him off gently. “I can understand that.”_

_Sora frowns, contemplating something. “The things I saw when you… During that part of the fight. All of those memories. They seemed so different. Which ones were…?”_

_A shrug from Roxas. “I never lived in Twilight Town, never really met Hayner, Pence, and Olette. It was just a simulation, a prison built to help you recover. But it doesn’t matter, I think. I have them, they’re mine. Real enough.”_

_“What happens now?” Sora asks. “Do you…? Will I…?” He takes a deep breath, focusing himself. Tears are prickling at his eyes. “I’m sorry, Roxas. For the way your life went. You didn’t deserve it.”_

_The blond young man’s smile widens, his eyes lighting up in a way they hadn’t before. “Man,” he says, shaking his head once. “You just keep giving me more reasons.”_

_“What reasons?” Sora asks. “I still don’t know what…”_

_“All in all,” Roxas continues, as if he can’t hear Sora speaking, “you make a good other.”_

**KH-KH-KH**

The feeling of rain, wet against his face, brings Sora back to reality. Thunder rumbles again, but it’s weak and far away. The storm has abated.

He looks up at the building above, imperious but nonthreatening. The rest of the plaza is deserted, leaving the Keybearer alone.

“Well,” he mutters to himself, hand on his heart, “not completely alone I guess.”

“Sora!” the familiar voice of Telary cries out. Sora turns to see his companions rushing out of the alley, weapons drawn and ready for a fight. When they see that he’s alone, both calm down.

“We thought you pulled a disappearing act on us too,” Azlyn comments, frowning at the boy. “Did you see the king? Which way did he go?”

Sora shakes his head. “No, I didn’t see the king. But…”

“But what?” Telary asks, placing a concerned hand on his young friend’s shoulder.

The Keyblade wielder grimaces, remembering something that immediately leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. “He said he defeated Riku.”

Azlyn and Telary exchange quick looks of confusion and apprehension.

“Who said that?” the wizard asks cautiously.

“Did you see a member of the Organization?” Azlyn asks, looking quickly across the plaza.

Sora opens his mouth to say no, only to close it after quickly realizing that yes, he did in fact meet a member of the Organization. He merely nods instead. For some reason, Roxas isn’t something he wants to share with his companions just yet.

“Well, he was probably just trying to get you riled up,” Telary suggests, his voice small and careful.

Azlyn nods enthusiastically. “You know none of those punks could beat Riku! I mean, if it were _me_ saying it, then sure…”

Telary rolls his eyes fondly.

“Anyway,” Sora says, shaking his head and sending water droplets flying around, “we should get going. We’ll probably catch up with Mickey at that castle.”

The Keybearer makes his way forward, resolving to keep Roxas in the back of his mind for now. He knows that eventually, and definitely sooner rather than later, he’ll have to deal with the revelations he’s made. But for now, it’s time to continue proving to Roxas where the strength of his Other lies: In his drive to see his friends.

Azlyn and Telary hang back a moment, watching Sora go and then turning to each other.

“He seems…” Telary begins, voice petering off as he realizes he’s got no follow up.

“Something happened, but he isn’t saying,” Azlyn agrees, beginning to move out. Telary falls into step beside her. “Which I guess is just as well.” She reaches out and grabs his hand in hers. “After all, we’re holding something back too.”

Telary squeezes her hand, his grin lighting up the gloomy city.

**KH-KH-KH**

Kairi doesn’t know much about fighting. Most residents of Destiny Islands had, from an early age, selected a makeshift weapon and went for it. Sora and Riku’s wooden swords, Selphie’s nunchaku (jump rope), and even Wakka’s favorite blitzball had all been implemented in the islands-wide obsession with sparring. After all, their nearly paradisiacal home had offered little in the way of actual thrills or excitement, and thus they made their own. Usually by whacking at one another.

But Kairi had never much been interested, content to sit back and watch. She’d come to regret that quite a bit during the events of last year, and had done some light wooden sword training when she could once the islands were restored. But, back in the days before Princesses and black cloaks and Keyblades, she’d remained resolutely passive.

It did, on the upside, allow her plenty of time to practice other skills. Skills such as knot tying, a hobby her grizzled old sailor of a(n adopted) grandfather had heartily encouraged. He’d taught her dozens of knots, and the appropriate situations in which to use them.

All this to say, it isn’t very hard for the redhead to unfurl the laces of her shoes, remove one from its shoe entirely, and tie them together in a makeshift grappling hook.

She thought about the possibilities for a while, how best to use the ten foot line her laces had provided. She knew the essential thing would be to wrap the shoe-anchored end around the decorative sculpture, but what then? It took her mere seconds to dismiss swinging across; she’d end up hanging over the abyss below, struggling to climb up. Besides, the line might not hold.

But Xigbar had given her another idea, proven with a quick test. Running from the back of the cell to the bars, she’d discovered a certain amount of forward motion was afforded to her floating prison. It was as if the cage was suspended on an invisible, midair rail. Thinking back, she realized it operated on much the same principle as the elevators inside Hollow Bastion.

So, praying that the cage hadn’t reached the end of the “rail”, she prepares her line, twirls it a few times through a gap in the bars to gain momentum, and let fly. The laces, spearheaded by the solid weight of Kairi’s left shoe, fly across the gap.

And miss the sculpture entirely, nearly a foot too far to the right. Sighing, Kairi reels in and tries again. The second time is off again, almost an entire foot wider. Knot-tying she can do, but aiming grappling hooks had never played _any_ part in her childhood.

She gets it on the fifth try, her shoe and the connected lace whirling twice around the white statuary. Grinning in triumph, she begins to pull. The cage moves forward, advancing little by little as she hauls the line in. The resistance is palpable, but hardly a deterrent. A grin turns to grunts, and the Princess of Heart’s face scrunches with the effort.

It takes her approximately a minute to haul herself close enough, and easy distance to jump through the widely spaced bars. She leaps about three feet, landing on the catwalk with a solid and satisfying _thunk_.

“Yes!” she declares jumping up with her fist pumping the air. Damsel in distress, was she?

But after a moment, her adrenaline rush dies an abrupt death. Looking around, she realizes that she’s still inside a dungeon probably full of people who won’t be too happy to discover she’s out of her cage. She has no idea of the layout, no allies, and still has to re-lace her shoes before moving anywhere.

She shakes her head, chuckling weakly at herself. “Great job, Kairi. I guess all that time with my heart in Sora’s made a little impulsiveness rub off, huh?”

“I’d say so.”

Kairi gasps, stumbling back several steps in her sock-feet. Saïx has entered the room, standing atop the staircase leading up to the exit. Beside him, a Berserker Nobody provides silent, immovable backup.

“Still,” he says, his voice emotionless as ever, “removing yourself from that cage, that was certainly something. Mostly sheer luck, of course, but that always seems to work for you heroic types.”

The Nobody draws ever closer as he speaks, dull eyes focused on Kairi. The man may not know much in the way of emoting, but he can loom like nobody’s business. Kairi shakes her hand, desperate to summon the power she’d earlier had at her disposal. Once again, nothing comes.

“Still, I suppose you can play your part as well outside the cage as you could inside it,” Saïx says, stopping a few feet in front of the girl. “Now, you are the bait for Sora. Therefore, you should scream and shout a little more. Perhaps some crying would be appropriate.”

Kairi says nothing, only tries desperately to stay calm and keep breathing. She thinks of what Sora and Riku would do in this situation, the resolve with which they’d face down an opponent.

“Get real!” she shoots up at the imperious Nobody, her eyes hard and defiant despite an occasional wavering. “If you think I’m crying, you’ve got another thing coming!”

 _Sora,_ she thinks, lip quivering despite her best efforts to keep it in check, _Riku, lend me some of your strength. I’m definitely going to need it!_

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora stands at the edge of a miles wide crater, staring up at the bottom of Organization XIII’s floating fortress. A tall ring of white steel lazily floats in circles beneath the castle’s main bulk, Nobody symbols protruding from it.

“Daunting, ain’t it?” King Mickey states with a small chuckle, startling the trio with his sudden reappearance.

“How are we supposed to get up there, Your Majesty?” Telary inquires.

“Maybe there’s some kind of ladder that drops down!” Azlyn declares. Everyone turns to look at her, none of them very supportive. The knight throws her hands up in frustration. “Hey, all I’m doing is throwing out suggestions here.”

Sora shakes his head, unable to bring himself to keep looking up at that monstrosity. Kairi is somewhere inside there, waiting for him. He needs to be with her _now,_ and instead he’s stuck here because Organization XIII had to build their stupid castle in the sky.

_Sora… Your strength…_

“Kairi…” the Keybearer mumbles.

“What was that?” Mickey asks suddenly, looking up at Sora with concerned eyes.

“Kairi, she…” Sora flails about with his hands, momentarily able to put his thoughts into words. “I thought it heard, like I did before. But that’s not… Right? Because…?”

“Sora, Sora,” Telary butts in, placing his hands on the Keyblade wielder’s shoulders and looking him in the eye. “Sora, you’ve gotta keep it together. If Kairi really is in trouble…”

The Keyblade pops into Sora’s hand in a flash, surprising Telary and sending the wizard skipping away. Sora pays him no mind, stepping forward. A light shines briefly above, in one of the castle’s outstretched annexes.

Sora raises the Keyblade high, light glowing at its tip. Once it gathers, a beam shoots out and up into the bottom of the floating castle. Beneath the beam, a path of crystalline blue Light stretches up like a road.

“Wow,” Azlyn mutters, nodding impressively.

“Don’t worry, Kairi,” Sora declares, lowering his blade. “We’re coming!”

**KH-KH-KH**

The Berserker steps forward, its claymore poised to swing down. Kairi watches as the massive sword begins its descent, jumping to the side and emitting a small squeak as it crashes into the metal floor.

A squeak, not a scream.

Saïx’s eyes follow the movement, expression passive. “A close call. If you aren’t careful, you might just miss your chance to see Sora.”

“I’d be more worried-” Kairi gasps and dodges another claymore strike, this time by a wider margin “-about _you_ meeting Sora. Like I told your friend… _Yikes_! When he gets here, we’re gonna make you sorry you ever laid a hand on me!”

“Surely,” Number VII deadpans. “You know, if I had a heart, this is where I would die of laughter.”

The Berserker explodes into a cloud of silvery light, traces of dark energy flickering through its remnants.

That actually manages to get a proper scream out of Kairi, the Princess of Heart quickly backpedaling away from the explosion.

Saïx whirls around, one eyebrow quirked. Before him stands a man, several inches taller and dressed in the same black coat. His hood is up, however, and Darkness obscures the features within.

“Who are you?” Saïx demands, his voice quiet but no less menacing.

All the hooded man does in response is hold out a hand, light flashing. When it fades, he holds a blade, red hilt encircled by one white and one black feathery wing. A red blade extends from a catlike blue eye on the pommel, veined with purple metal to make it look like a bat’s wing. A dark grey wing, angelic in design, sprouts from that at a ninety degree angle near the tip. Dangling from the hilt is a keychain, and seeing it sends Saïx’s eyebrow up another notch.

“Interesting,” he remarks. “Not to mention potentially useful.”

The hooded man still says nothing, charging forward, Saïx raises his hand, whipping out his giant blue sword with a flick of the wrist. It easily blocks the descending blade, and the pair of men in black struggle against one another.

Kairi watches with an open mouth, still quite stunned by everything happening around her so quickly. She could swear she’s seen the hooded man’s blade before, or at least something like it.

A hand touches her shoulder, and once again the redhead gasps and turns to look behind her. A girl stands before her, blonde and wearing a white sundress. Looking over the girl’s shoulder, Kairi spots the swirling black and violet energy of a dark portal.

“Don’t worry,” the blonde girl says gently as Kairi scoots away. “It’s okay.”

“Who are you?” Kairi demands.

“Naminé,” she answers. “I’m here to help. But we should hurry.”

Kairi says nothing, opening her mouth without any words coming out. She looks at Naminé, really looks at her, and can’t help but begin to see… something. She isn’t quite sure what it is, but it seems like a familiarity.

She looks back to the battle. The combatants’ sword lock is broken, and it seems that the two men are merely sizing each other up. Once again, Kairi’s eyes find the odd sword.

“C’mon, Kairi,” Naminé says, more force in them this time. “Believe in yourself. It’s time to get out of here. Riku can…”

“Riku!” Kairi leaps to her feet, the sword clicking into place in her memory. Riku’s here, exactly when she needed him.

Her best friend, here.

Saïx hears Kairi’s shout, regarding the man before him with a subtly different glare.

“I suppose that makes sense,” the Nobody remarks. “And still in that form I see.” Wisps of Darkness begin to surround him, his body fading out as more come. “Well, I should leave you to your reunion. I imagine it will be interesting.”

Riku charges, but before he can get his blade in the blue-haired man, he’s gone without a trace. He mutters something under his breath, free fist clenching tight enough to make his glove squeak.

“Way to go Riku!” Kairi calls, rushing up to her friend with a huge smile. “Sure showed him. Of course, I got him warmed up there… Hey!”

Riku’s turned away, a dark portal already opening in front of him. Kairi makes a small noise of indignation, stepping forward and grabbing her older friend by his sleeve. He tries to yank it away, but she holds on fast. There’s no way she’s letting him just leave after all this time.

“What are you doing, Riku?” she asks, pleading sneaking its way into her voice. “You can’t just go. And what’s with that stupid hood, huh?” She reaches a hand upward, but Riku yanks his head back.

Kairi’s grip on her friend’s sleeve loosens, too shocked and confused to hold on.

“Riku,” Naminé says softly, her own portal fading out. She steps forward, her expression soft and sensitive. She stops next to Kairi. “It’ll be okay.”

“Whatever’s happened,” Kairi assures him, tears in her eyes, “it’s okay, Riku. Please, I just want to see you again. It’s been so long.”

Riku sighs, bowing his head for a moment before gently grabbing Kairi’s wrists. He guides them upwards, letting her grasp the edges of his hood. Taking a deep breath, he nods minutely.

Still concerned, softly biting her bottom lip in concentration, Kairi pushes the hood back. She isn’t sure what to expect, and when the cowl falls back, she gasps out loud. Whatever she was expecting, this isn’t it.

“Riku?” she breathes out, backing away until she encounters Naminé’s arm against her back. Light plays at the contact point, but she doesn’t even notice. “How? You look… You look like…”

“Xehanort’s Heartless,” Riku replies, voice heavy and tired. Heavy, and tired, and not his own. “Though of course, you know him as Ansem.”

“Riku…” Tears spill over Kairi’s eyelids. She falls into Riku and wraps his arms around him, relieved to be with her best friend again, but at the same time so, so _sad_.


	47. Line The Pieces Up

The fortress of Organization XIII becomes no less intimidating once Mickey and the trio are inside. A series of ramps and landings lead up to the plain rectangular entryway. They aren’t quite inside yet, and wind blows through the gaps of the large metal plates surrounding the passageway. Looking down, Sora notes the gaps he can see through, down into the center of the deep crater below and up at the heart-shaped moon above.

“We made it,” Mickey declares, surveying the area with his Keyblade drawn.

Sora nods. “KAIRI! KAIRI, IT’s ME!!!”

“Sora!” Azlyn, Telary, and Mickey simultaneously admonish the Keybearer. He gives them a sheepish grin in return.

“This is the enemy’s stronghold,” Mickey reminds him.

“So maybe ya don’t wanna start announcing our position to all the Nobodies, huh?” Azlyn scolds.

“You’re right, you’re right,” Sora apologizes in a low voice, looking guiltily down at the floor. “So anyway, where should we start looking for Kairi?”

“I’m afraid you three will have to take care of that yourselves,” Mickey announces, studiously avoiding the stunned gazes he provokes. Telary and Sora’s mouths are agape, but Azlyn merely rolls her eyes. “Gosh, I’m sorry fellas. But Ansem is somewhere in here, and he might need my help.”

“He’s your friend,” Sora says with an agreeable nod. “And you’re worried about him. We understand.”

“We find Kairi, you find Ansem,” Telary says, verbalizing a concrete plan. “We’ll meet up… somewhere, I guess.”

“Good luck you three,” Mickey says sincerely, smiling when Sora and Telary repeat the sentiment back to him. He turns to face Azlyn, who’s still frowning deeply. “Aw, Az…”

“I know, I know,” the knight sighs, shaking her head. “I’m being silly, this is a much better way to get through this. I just get worried that…”

“We’ll see each other again, Azlyn,” the small Keybearer assures his young friend. He holds out his gloved hand and smiles at her. “I promise we will.”

It takes a second, and a deep breath, but Azlyn returns the handshake. “Good luck, Your Majesty.”

With a last nod, Mickey takes off across the ramps. Dusks slither through the floor in front of him, but the monarch hardly takes a second decapitating each one before he continues on.

The king rushes on, but more Nobodies arrive to bedevil the trio. The rushing sounds of arriving creatures fill the air, along with a soft whine. Looking around for the noises’ source, Sora notices tiny red dots of light adorning Azlyn and Telary.

“Guys!” he yells warningly. “Duck!”

All three instantly hit the deck, just in time for a wave of pink crystal bullets to spear through the air above their heads. With another rush of warping, six Snipers appear in the air around the trio.

Azlyn turns her dodge into a roll, coming up on her feet and hurling her shield forward. It knocks into the barrel of one Nobody’s gun, turning it aside. She pounces, jumping up and nailing the silver and white creature with both feet. It falls to the ground, and she flips over to grab another and slam it down as well.

Sora blocks a bullet then dodges two more, all the while closing the gap between him and his enemies. He slashes through one, ducks forward beneath a bullet, and brings the Keyblade up to vertically bisect the second Nobody.

Telary shields himself from a few bullets, redirects their absorbed energy into his staff, and fires it back out to eliminate his opponents quickly.

Azlyn’s mouth is open to cockily remark on their victory, but she’s forced to swallow her words as a line of translucent red cubes sweeps into her right side.

The boys are already moving as Azlyn goes flying. A large Nobody, hovering in the air looking like an empty robe with its sleeves fused together, appears behind the cubes. Sora leaps at it. But the cubes quickly rearrange themselves into a solid wall. His Keyblade hits with a solid _thwack_ , failing to penetrate and sending the Keybearer backwards on his own momentum.

Telary shoots off a fireball just as the cubes are again forming their line. It splashes against the Sorcerer Nobody’s chest, about as effective as a snowball. The red cubes snap up, pushing Sora’s limp body higher into the air.

Azlyn plows into Sora before the cubes can strike again, and the pair go rolling across the floor. Telary sends off another fireball, intending it as more of a distraction than an attack. The Nobody thankfully reacts accordingly, stopping to take the magic flames head on and giving the knight and the Keybearer a moment to recover.

Sora is on his feet first, watching warily as the blocks disassemble their straight line and move instead to hover at random spots in the air. He moves quickly, ducking as one cube flies towards him, dodging left to avoid another. The third goes for his legs, and he barely manages a complete sidestep.

He’s close now, and the Nobody can sense it. This breed seems quite a bit more intelligent than its counterparts. The blocks reform in an instant, once again an impenetrable defensive wall. Sora slams his Keyblade down, but the front of the creature is well-defended.

Presenting a perfect opportunity for Azlyn to move in. She leaps up from her position behind the Nobody, slashing at its head with her shield. The creature rears back in apparent pain, its blocks losing their cohesion. Sora grins and charges through the scattered defense, landing a blow of his own. The Keyblade neatly bisects the Sorcerer in two pieces that disappear in flashes of light.

Azlyn and Sora stop to breathe, winded by the prolonged encounter.

“We really are inside their stronghold,” Telary comments, the only member of the trio with the composure to speak. “Their sending the toughest minions after us.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sora declares, shaking his head to clear it. “Kairi’s here, and I don’t care what I have to fight through to get to her!”

“Right there with ya, Sora!” Azlyn chimes in with a grin.

The group continues on, down a long hallway and into the castle proper. The room they enter is like a giant sphere, a fishbowl made just for them with twenty foot high windows in the shape of the Nobody emblem. After a few feet the color of the path changes from grey to white, extending out to form a platform. Once everyone’s on board, the elevator begins to ascend towards an enclosed hallway.

“Sure is different from last time,” Sora remarks. Off the questioning looks of his fellows, he explains. “The last time we were chasing after a part of Xehanort.”

“I see,” Telary says, nodding agreeably. He gives the place a lookaround as well. “That place was made up of pieces of worlds, cobbled together and turned dark by the Heartless. It was messy and chaotic, almost organic-looking. But this place is so stark and clean, mechanical.” He frowns thoughtfully. “I’m not exactly sure which one is more disconcerting.”

“Heartless world,” Azlyn answers immediately. “There was that creepy mine, and the shadow versions…”

“I actually have to say this place,” Sora says. “Something about it just seems so empty and, y’know, lifeless. And there’s the fact that Kairi’s here somewhere instead of safe.”

Plus the latent familiarity, surely a side effect of Roxas. He can’t exactly access specific memories, but everything still seems like he’s seen it before.

“Being perfectly honest,” Telary is saying, Sora only half-hearing the words, “I think I’m just as nervous about seeing Kairi again as getting her away from danger. It’s been so long, y’know?”

“She’ll be glad to see us,” Azlyn says reassuringly. “As weird as all this lost memory crap is, we’re all connected. And of course, once she hears the big news…”

 _That_ Sora manages to pick up on. Turning to his companions with a questioning look, he asks, “What news?”

The elevator shudders to a stop. There’s the slightest whisper of sound as it connects to another dark grey path, leading into a long hallway. A curving staircase sits at its end, barely visible in the distance.

“This place is huge!” Azlyn comments overenthusiastically, Telary following right beside her.

It’s such an obvious deflection, Sora can’t help but sigh and roll his eyes at the knight. He opens his mouth to call her out, but before he can Telary chimes in as well.

“But so empty,” he remarks, looking around nervously. His hand is wrapped around the staff at his waist, ready to draw.

“Oh, c’mon!” Sora frustratedly declares, throwing his hands up. “What were you talking about? Avoiding the topic is one thing, but intentionally encouraging an ironic Nobody attack? That’s just…”

Dusks spring down from portals in the ceiling, slapping away with their rubbery arms.

“This,” Sora comments as the battle is joined, dodging around two Nobodies and delivering killing blows, “is _so_ not over!”

The fight rages on down the corridor, Dusks backed up by the occasional gaggle of Snipers. Azlyn almost loses an eye and Telary gets several vicious smacks, but they make it to the hallway’s end and the staircase.

Another Sorcerer attacks them there, its red cubes coming up to block their progression. In the small, narrow space the stairs afford, Sora and Azlyn’s previously successful teamwork strategy is hard to pull off.

One cube, operating independently, slams into Azlyn’s side, sending the knight screaming off the staircase. Telary reaches out with his staff and she manages to catch it, hanging over the void.

Sora can’t spare any time to look, keeping the rest of the cubes from flying off and finishing the job. Telary grits his teeth, holding on tightly to his counterpart as she swings through the air. She starts kicking, gaining more momentum and hoping that her boyfriend can hang on long enough for her plan to work. After several vigorous pumps, she gives it one last kick and releases her hold on the staff.

Azlyn flips up through the air, grasping the railing several feet above the Sorcerer Nobody. With as quiet a grunt as she can manage, the knight hauls herself up behind the creature. With a small, satisfied grin, she viscously attack its back.

The strategy works as perfectly the second time as it had the first, and with a powerful thrust Sora finishes the fight.

Snipers appear just as he’s recovering, floating over the void with sights set on Sora, Azlyn, and Telary. The wizard notices and reacts quickly, throwing up a shield around all three. It’s larger than he’s used to, but he manages to block the initial shots.

The magic shield drops as a second volley fly through, but by then Azlyn’s ready with her physical shield. Using the magical power he hadn’t expended on the Sorcerer fight, Telary uses fireballs to waste the sharpshooting Nobodies.

Dusks poke their heads over the rails, arms waving. Sora reacts instinctively, slashing through five Nobodies with a single swing.

“Head up!” the Keybearer orders his companions, knocking a Sniper shot out of the air. “Keep moving, don’t let them pin us!”

Azlyn nods, backflipping down the stairs to land between the boys. She gives the edge of her shield a tap and it expands once again, providing more cover as they move up. Telary fires off a flaming orb every once in a while, trying to keep his magic reserve from running dry too quickly.

Their flight is quick, acending the last several dozen stairs and ducking inside a metal tower. A small landing leads to yet more staircases, winding up and up towards a small light shining at the top.

The tower seems to be some kind of safe space, as no more Nobodies follow in after them. They remain wary, but the ascent up the stairs never turns particularly exciting. It is, however, plenty tense for all involved. Luckily for Azlyn and Telary, it’s tense enough that Sora doesn’t attempt to press the issue regarding their secret.

The tower leads to another hallway, opening up into a massive chamber. A path leads to a large rectangular platform hanging over a black abyss, then out into another hallway. Large balconies on the north and south sides of the chamber form another level, then smaller balconies several feet above them. Nobody symbols abound once again, protruding from the walls and reminding everyone of their presence.

The ceiling is made entirely of glass, light shining in from the eerie yellow heart moon. A high white tower juts into the sky beside it, some kind of odd red, blue, and purple mist flowing down from its tip.

“Hey!” Azlyn calls out, settling into a combat stance and looking up at a high balcony.

Saïx stands there, calmly regarding the group with both hands behind his back. A few feet behind him stands Xigbar, smiling brightly at the scene before him, though why he’s doing so is anyone’s guess.

“Where’s Kairi?” Sora yells up, defiant rage in his voice. Kingdom Key flashes into his hand, and he gives it a poignant swing.

Saïx shakes his head, ignoring Xigbar’s slight giggling behind him. “She’s very slippery, that girl.”

“Got a little creative, then hopped right outta her cell,” Number II adds. “Though who coulda showed her how to pull that off, I just don’t know.”

“Kairi escaped?” Telary breathes. Now Axel’s instructions for seeking her out are unfortunately useless. On the other hand, she isn’t still languishing in some cage.

Sora doesn’t know quite how to feel either, so he settles for his usual boisterous defiance. “I’m still gonna make you pay for what you did to her!”

“It hardly matters now,” Saïx declares, shrugging once casually. “She is no longer useful to our purposes. Nor are you.” He points upward, to the moon glowing in the sky like a diamond. “Look there! Gaze upon our Kingdom Hearts!”

The trio gasp, taken aback by the sudden revelation.

“Yeah, check out how pretty!” Xigbar chimes in. “She’s a real beaut, and it’s all thanks to you, Sora. You and that Keyblade!”

A sudden feeling of shame washes over the Keybearer. He looks down at his blade, the unwitting instrument of the Organization’s scheme. Every single piece of that giant moon, an abomination no matter how beautiful it may appear, is made up a lost heart. Judging by its size, there must be tens of thousands trapped inside.

“Although,” Xigbar continues, one hand thoughtfully stroking his chin. “I guess one last helping couldn’t hurt. Whaddya say, Sev?”

The corner of Saïx’s mouth turns down at the mention of that insipid nickname, but he gives the idea its due consideration.

“I suppose it can’t ever hurt to be sure,” the blue-haired man declares, raising a hand with his fingers in snapping position.

Portals of inky black darkness open up all around the room, the yellow dots of Heartless eyes shining through the black. Creatures leap out from within, Soldiers, Bandits, Search Ghosts, Wyverns, and floating mages of every color in the rainbow flooding the platform.

Sora and company tighten their circle, watching every side with their weapons warily drawn. The denizens of Darkness swarm around them, eager for the taste of their valiant hearts.

Saïx watches them for a moment, a small grin playing across his lips. “I can trust you to watch them, yes?”

“Sure can, boss man,” Xigbar replies, nodding eagerly. “You go on and stare out the window, or join the Superior up top. Whatever it is makes you remember feelin’ happy.”

Saïx opens a portal and disappears, sparing no parting words for his compatriot. That hardly concerns Xigbar, and he settles in to watch the Keyblade wielder and his lackeys struggle against the Heartless.

After a few seconds, though, he hears a sound that is definitely not combat-related. A kind of dumbfounded grunt, coming from across the way.

“Well,” he mutters, coolly regarding Pete and Maleficent standing at a balcony across the hall. “I guess we left the ‘visitors welcome’ sign up today, didn’t we?”

On their own white terrace, Pete and Maleficent takes in their surroundings. A genuine smile decorates the jade-skinned witch’s lips.

“Oh, Peter,” Maleficent declares, “this castle is simply marvelous! Perfect for our purposes, I should think. What say you we acquire it for our own?”

Pete gulps audibly, taking his own look around. “Well, uh, I can’t argue that the setup is kinda nice. Lotsa space for knickknacks and such. Heckuva job to clean it all, though.”

Maleficent arches her usual ‘wow are you an idiot’ eyebrow at the minion.

“And, uh, course there’s another thing,” the fat cat continues. “This world is in-between, y’know. Way too close to the Darkness! The Heartless might not listen to us here!”

The witch’s eyebrow shifts slightly, transferring into ‘I should incinerate you where you stand’ position.

“You underestimate me once again,” she says dismissively. The green orb at the end of her staff glows wickedly.

Several dozen feet below, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary continue their desperate struggle.

**KH-KH-KH**

The catwalks and outdoor walkways surrounding the Castle That Never Was are nearly as numerous and labyrinthine as the corridors inside, but Mickey Mouse runs on in search of his old friend.

He feels just awful, leaving Sora and his kids behind to face alone whatever awaits them inside. Reassuring Azlyn that his leaving was the best possible step had been nearly as much for his own benefit as hers. As he runs, the look on her face haunts him.

Things are a mess, far worse than he could ever have anticipated. But that is why he must run on. After all, there’s one thing he’s sure of: Ansem the Wise would not have emerged from his long period of hiding without a plan in place. A plan that may very well end up saving the day.

Nobodies spring up in Mickey’s way constantly, but it takes little time to dispatch them with his golden key. Bashing down two Dusks, he looks ahead to see a gathering of three or four more of the creatures, surrounding a red-clothed lump on the white floor of the walkway. Gritting his teeth, Mickey leaps to the defense of his dear friend.

His initial slash decapitates two Dusks, a leaping vertical cut splitting another in two. With his feet on the ground, the king spins twice to strike down the remaining pair.

With the enemies dispatched, the tiny Keybearer regards the figure slumped at his feet with concern. For a moment he can’t help but think that he came too late, but much to his relief the figure begins to rise. As he does, the king notes the odd machine resting beside him: a cylindrical device at least as tall as Mickey, with a large glass globe at one end and a pointed antenna at the other.

“My old friend,” the man in red says by way of greeting, nodding down at his fellow monarch. “It has been too long.”

Mickey nods, frowning up at his associate of long ago. “Sure has. Now c’mon, take off that mask and lemme _see_ ya.” When the robed man hesitates, Mickey adds, “Please.”

The man in red, known formally as DiZ to all who had associated with him, raises his hands to his face and begins unwrapping bandages. As he does, that dark power he had been using to darken his visible skin fades into mist.

When the bandages fall away, DiZ’s true features come to light. White blond hair slicked back, pale skin from time spent inside a laboratory rather than outside. A goatee the same color as his hair decorates the man’s chin and upper lip.

“That’s better, Ansem!” Mickey declares. Notes of cheer color the words, but with a clearly false edge. After another moment of attempting to keep up the charade, the mouse king’s face drops into a serious, disappointed expression. “Why didn’t you come to me before things got so bad?”

Ansem only sighs in reply, looking out over the dark world below rather than at his old friend.

“The burden was mine to bear,” he answers after a long, contemplative minute. “Everything that has befallen the worlds…”

“Don’t talk like that!” Mickey demands, shaking his head fiercely. “You didn’t…”

“I _did_!” Ansem interrupts, turning a glare down at his onetime compatriot. “Xehanort was my apprentice. It was I who took him in when he had no past or identity, only his name.”

“You did that because you’re a kind man,” Mickey protests. “You gave him all the help you could, just like you woulda done for anybody.”

“Who he was, was who I made him to be.” Ansem turns away, striding to the edge of the walkway. “I showed him the path down which he walked, introduced him to mysteries he could never comprehend. His obsession was mine.”

“It was his own, and you know it,” Mickey counters, frustrated. “But that’s not all, is it?”

Ansem sighs. “I admit, there was more. Xehanort, and my other apprentices with him, stole everything that was precious to me. My research, my home… and my pride. They threw me into the dark realm, leaving me with nothing but my own thoughts. But the Realm of Darkness is a greedy one, devouring the memories of all who pass through if they are not careful. The only thoughts I had to keep me strong, keep me _sane_ , were those of revenge. Even once I escaped, the obsession continued. If anything, it grew.”

“I can’t help you with revenge, Ansem,” Mickey says, solemn and sad.

“I know, old friend,” Radiant Garden’s former ruler replies. He smiles, but it’s only an affectation. “Riku told me you would say that. He must have told me a thousand times.”

“Riku…” Mickey says under his breath, shaking his head at the thought of his young friend’s predicament.

“He’s most likely with his friends by now,” Ansem assures the mouse king. “That should do him some good, to be away from my own poisonous influence. Of all those hurt in my quest for vengeance, I believe Riku was the foremost.”

“I only saw him once, after he was transformed.” The small Keybearer shakes his head at the memory. “He made me promise not to tell Sora what had happened to him. But I think that, if Sora is really in trouble, he’ll show up.” He steps forward and lays a meaningful hand on Ansem's arm. “That’s what friends do for each other.”

The former DiZ smiles down at him, though it’s brittle. He steps forward, grabbing his machine and lifting it carefully.

“The time has come for me to act,” he declares. “There may be no way to truly make amends for my actions, but perhaps there is still time to make a difference in the lives of these young people.”

Mickey steps up beside him, laying one hand on the device. Together, the two old friends make their way onward.

**KH-KH-KH**

The sounds of battle spur Kairi forward, Riku and Naminé scurrying to keep pace. The redheaded Princess of Heart rushes out onto a small balcony, high above a large chamber. Looking down, she gasps as she sees Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, fighting for their lives against the Heartless swarming down on them.

She grimaces at the sight, even as her heart leaps with joy.

“Oh, no,” Naminé mutters behind her counterpart. Riku says nothing, the face of Xehanort’s Heartless as stoic as ever.

“We can’t just sit here!” Kairi declares. Before her companions can caution her, the girl pulls herself up on the balcony’s ledge and jumps.

She manages to land nimbly on a lower walkway, but the impact unbalances her and she falls down to her knees. The sound of her landing reaches Xigbar’s ears. Curious, the Nobody turns to face her.

“Damn, little girl,” the Organization’s Number II chuckles, shaking his head at the sight before him. “Ya got a few guts, I’ll give ya that. Not that any of that’ll matter in a minute.”

Heartless appear before the Princess, Shadows wiggling out of the ground and charging. Kairi steps back, holding up a defensive hand against the creatures. Focused on her approaching attackers, she doesn’t even notice the soft light gathering there.

Riku lands beside her, his blade ready to strike. He barely makes it a step before Light flashes around the girl he’d intended to protect. It barrels into the Shadows, sending the small monsters flying back through the air. Kairi slumps over, suddenly breathing heavily.

“Kairi?” Riku asks, looking her over.

Meanwhile, on the platform below, Telary bats back a leaping Soldier just in time to notice the light flashing on the walkway above. Looking up, the redhead gasps as he sees his sister standing there, looking winded. His shock only intensifies when he notices who’s standing next to her.

“Aaah!” the wizard cries, stumbling back. “Kairi!”

Sora hears the girl’s name and looks to Telary. Noticing his older friend’s upward gaze, the Keyblade wielder looks up as well. When he spies Kairi, he nearly falls to the floor. After so long spent wondering and worrying, fighting his way towards her, he can finally look upon her.

But Xehanort’s Heartless is there as well, the face of his old foe pushing back any warm feelings and replacing them with rage. What is he doing here, that soulless creature that had caused so much heartache? More urgently, why is he so near Kairi, and holding a blade that looks suspiciously similar to Riku’s?

The sudden rush of thoughts distract him, allowing several Shadows the perfect opening they require. He barely hears the creatures flying towards him before they land, knocking him down to the hard platform floor.

Somehow, through all the noise and confusion of battle, Kairi snaps up as soon as Sora is in danger. She can’t hear his cries, but nevertheless she still knows. He needs her.

“Kairi?” Riku asks, looking concernedly at his friend as her expression hardens with resolve. “Kairi, what are you…?”

She’s off before he can finish asking the question. Just as before she rushes to the edge, but this time a glow is rising up around her. Riku steps forward to stop her, but something holds him back. She’s going to be with Sora, just as it should be. It’s probably a good thing, will lessen the awkwardness when he retreats alone into the darkness. Besides, a cloud of Rapid Thrusters have emerged behind him, and every one he takes care of is one that won’t come after his friends.

Azlyn kicks away a lunging Search Ghost, turning just in time to see Sora go down. She moves forward a step to help, but three Red Nocturnes swoop down and hurl fire. Not far away, Telary is similarly cornered by a group of Soldiers and Bolt Towers.

A quick fire spell burns away some surrounding Shadows, and Sora easily shrugs off the rest as he rises. The platform is still a raucous cauldron of battle, and the Keybearer prepares another charge.

But he stops short as a streak of Light hits the platform, yellow-white luminescence spreading out into an area several feet wide. It hits several Heartless like an ocean wave, sending the small ones flying and scooting the larger creatures back.

The Light fades within seconds, revealing Kairi. She’s breathing heavily, surveying the damage she’s done with wide eyes. Clutched tight in her hand is what is undeniably a Keyblade: a bronze shaft with teeth in the shape of colorful wildflowers. One hilt guard is a vine, wrapping around the shaft up towards the flowery teeth, and the other is a blue ocean wave. A yellow paopu fruit dangles from a red chain beneath the hilt.

“Kairi!” Sora declares, rushing toward her in anticipation of a collapse. To the girl’s credit, she keeps herself standing upright.

“Sora!” she calls back, her face lighting up as the boy stops in front of her. “You’re here!”

“Uh, yeah,” is all Sora can get out, utterly shocked by a large number of things. Kairi’s very presence, the strange Light that reminds him of something Belle did in Beast’s Castle, and a Keyblade of all things! It’s a lot to take in. “What are you doing here?”

She straightens up, giving him a proud smile. “You were in trouble. I came to save you!”

Sora’s jaw drops, he can’t help it. “What? B-but, _I_ came to save _you_!”

“Well, Sora,” Kairi chuckles, casually flipping her hair, “they say a healthy relationship is fifty-fifty.”

Nothing else is said for several moments, the long separated lovers reunited at last. After all the heartbreak and worry and pain, finally Sora and Kairi are together.

“Oh, that’s just adorable!” Azlyn cracks, flipping forward and hurling her shield into the chest of an Armored Knight. “Good to see you again Kairi, but would you mind terribly putting that Keyblade to use?”

Kairi nods and steps forward, stumbling a bit. Sora gasps and reaches out an arm, catching the girl and holding her protectively.

“Are you okay?” he asks, stepping up close and looking down at her.

“Yeah, fine,” she replies, a bit shakily. She shakes her head to clear it, only to become dizzy. “That whole Light explosion thing took a lot outta me I guess.”

“Don’t worry!” Telary says, stepping up to the pair and putting an arm around his disoriented sister. “I’ll stay with her, make sure nothing happens.”

“So I guess it’s right back into the old routines, huh big bro?” Kairi teases the wizard. She stands on her own, the vertigo fading. A Shadow charges the loitering trio, and she reaches out to give it a whack. A cloud of black particles fly from the creature as it slides back across the floor, not destroyed but certainly injured.

“ _We_ can hold things here,” Telary assures Sora, stepping up beside his fellow redhead.

“Ugh, you people and your emotions!” Azlyn groans, backflipping away from an Armored Knight’s blade. She lands and throws her shield, knocking its head clean off. “Meanwhile I’m stuck doing all the work!”

Telary summons a lightning deluge to take care of some Powerwilds closing in on his girlfriend.

“Yeah, yeah,” she replies, kicking back one monkey-like Heartless that managed to slip through. “You and your magic.”

“Coming Azlyn!” Sora calls, swiping through two Soldiers. Before he goes, he gives Kairi a dashing grin. “I guess it’s time to give my fifty!”

The Keybearer leaps forward, cleanly slicing a Luna Bandit into two pieces. He whirls forward, bashing in the skull of a Wight Knight and cutting through the stomach-face of a Trick Ghost.

“Not to belittle your accomplishments,” Telary says to Kairi, unable to keep his nerves at speaking to his lost family for the first time in a year, “but how did you manage to get here, exactly?”

“I had help!” Kairi explains, stepping forward and bashing down a Red Nocturne. She points up to the walkway above.

Telary follows her finger, grimacing when he notices who it’s pointing to. So it _hadn’t_ been the stress of battle then.

“Uh, isn’t that Xehanort’s Heartless?” he nervously asks. “Though I guess you’d know him as Ansem. He wasn’t actually though, just an imposter. Actually the Heartless of an imposter. Though the sword is new… Not to mention him _fighting_ Heartless. And am I mistaken, or does that sword look suspiciously like…?”

“It’s a bit complicated,” the redheaded girl interrupts. Grunting, she kicks one Driller Mole back into its partner. “Though, not nearly as complicated as what you just said. Anyway, that’s actually…”

She doesn’t get to finish her though either, as suddenly a pink crystal spear plunges into an approaching Shadow. Another bursts through the chest of a Fortuneteller, then another in the skull of a Large Body. And finally they just begin raining down, falling from the sky like volcano ash. Telary instinctively moves in front of Kairi, though she grimaces and steps away from his protection.

There’s no need for concerning. Though the bullets appear to be flying indiscriminately, none of them hit any human on the platform. The Heartless die out in droves, until finally only five stand on in the lowest part of the atrium.

“What a nice little reunion,” Xigbar coos from his high perch. The only sound in the room is Riku bashing away at Soldiers on his walkway. “Gang’s all here.”

The Nobody sends a significant glance sideways, and for the first time Azlyn notices the man on the walkway. She gasps as Telary did, quickly transitioning from surprise to rage, then heading across the mental street to confusion.

“And three Keyblades, all in one place,” the Organization’s Number II continues. “Never thought I’d see this. Though to tell ya the truth, quality control seems to have gone way down. A punk kid, a little girl, and a denizen of Darkness. What a world!”

“Quit it with the ‘little girl’ stuff!” Kairi demands, rushing up to stand beside Sora. Telary follows after her, the quartet clustering together.

“Who you calling a punk kid?” Sora yells up himself, swinging his Keyblade threateningly.

“Don’t like that one, eh?” Xigbar replies with a chuckle. “Okay then, how about this: Traitor! Roxas, you haven’t been a good boy, now have you? And it was one of the first things I told you when ya joined up.”

“Roxas?” Kairi says, looking to Sora with narrowed eyes.

“We’re not sure why…” Telary begins to explain.

“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you later,” Sora interrupts shortly.

“Maybe ya will, maybe ya won’t,” Xigbar mocks. The Nobody suddenly blurs, as if his body is getting bad reception.

An accompanying blur suddenly phases into existence upon the platform, smoothing out in the smirking form of Organization XIII’s Number II.

“Let’s just see if you survive the next few minutes.”

Sora and Azlyn rush forward, Kairi only a step behind. But Xigbar blurs again, reappearing in the air several feet away, behind and to the left. With a loud laugh, he takes aim and fires off several shots.

They slam into Sora, luckily shattering against the magical protection of his garments. The boy does stumble back however, inadvertently knocking into Kairi.

Azlyn is moving forward though, letting out a loud battle cry and flipping towards Xigbar, shield ready to strike. But he’s not there when she arrives, having already popped over to the platform’s other side.

His next few shots hit Telary’s back, one bullet fragmenting and nicking his exposed forearm. The wizard hisses in pain, ducking aside to allow Sora to charge.

Xigbar fires off two quick, focused rounds, one from each pistol. Sora deflects one and sidesteps the other, leaping up with the Keyblade raised.

But the Nobody is too slippery, already popping out then up somewhere new. Azlyn’s almost there, halfway through a jump when Xigbar arrives. She turns slightly and throws her shield, scoring a hit that sends the Organization’s Number II sliding back through the air.

Seeing their opponent’s confusion, Telary sends off a fireball right at the one-eyed man. It splashes against his coat, prompting a strained grunt from the Nobody. He fades out quickly, though this time it seems as if the whole room’s unfocusing along with him.

When reality snaps back, the platform is different. Now it’s only one long stretch of metal, Xigbar at one end and the heroic quintet at the other. Smirking, Xigbar starts firing off barrages.

Azlyn leaps in front of the others, blocking with her shield. The Nobody doesn’t seem to mind, keeping up the pressure.

But even his magic-based pistols can’t fire forever. They flash white, the crystals that line their handguards disappearing. Realizing their chance, Sora and his compatriots charge forward.

“Uh oh!” Xigbar declares, furiously shaking his guns. It won’t take long to reload, but those teens are getting awfully close…

“Ha!” he shouts, the ammo-crystals regenerating themselves. He stretches out his arms and fires, half a dozen bullets barreling into Azlyn’s chest. They hit the knight like a ton of bricks, sending her stumbling back into the others.

Reality blurs, and the platform is back to its normal configuration. Xigbar floats to the group’s side, lining up his shots. Telary throws up a quick shield, but the improvised protection holds only for a few rounds before shattering.

One pink crystal flies through, grazing Kairi and leaving a thin gash on her upper arm. The girl, not used to such sharp pain, lets out a loud squeal.

That sound, anguish and pain, hits Sora harder than any bullet. Kairi’s in trouble, hurt, and all because of the Nobody floating a few feet away. That simply won’t do.

The Keybearer lets out a roar of challenge to rival any of Azlyn’s, bursting forth from his clustered group and charging headlong at his enemy.

“Oh, real nice strategy there Roxas,” Xigbar mocks, once again simply blurring out of reality.

Sora skids to a stop as soon as the Nobody’s gone, wheeling around to face his new location the moment he spots the telltale blur. He charges at Xigbar’s as yet hazy form, leaping up just as the man takes full physical form.

Kingdom Key crashes into Xigbar’s chest, a loud cry bursting from his mouth. He flails out wildly with one gun, smashing it into his attacker’s chin. Sora grunts as he slams back down to the platform.

Even through the pain, Xigbar can’t help but look down and smile at the boy as he bounces off the metal surface.

It’s a distraction he can’t afford, as a ball of Light as big as his head flies through the air and slams into his chest, exploding on impact.

Now it’s the Nobody’s turn to flip through the air, barely managing to land on one knee beside Sora. Looking up, he sees Kairi standing firm, right arm outstretched. Azlyn and Telary are gazing up at her in awe.

But she can only maintain composure for a moment, slumping back down to her knees in utter exhaustion. Telary reaches out to catch her, noticing idly that her cut seems to have healed itself.

 

“Okay, fine,” Xigbar breathes, scowling at the heroes. Sora is rising now, gazing at the Nobody with fierce anger in his eyes once again. “Play time’s over!”

He blurs out again. Telary, Azlyn, and Sora frantically look around to see where he’ll appear next, floating upside down in midair with his guns raised.

But Xigbar is finished with tricks, quick teleporting and insulting taunts. He crouches atop his balcony, combining the two pistols into one rifle. His teeth grind together as he places his left and only eye in the scope, adjusting the crosshairs to center on Sora. The boy is still warily casting his eyes around the platform’s airspace. He and the others are so concerned about Xigbar popping up, he has plenty of time to take one shot. The most important shot of his nonexistence.

“Sorry Roxas,” Organization XIII’s Number II mutters under his breath. He shifts his shoulders one last time, his finger carefully squeezing down on the trigger. “Time to put your little light out for good.”

The sound of tearing cloth and punctured flesh explodes in Xigbar’s ears, accompanied by an intense burst of pain. Suddenly his rifle is knocked from his hands, the appendages going limp. Looking down, he spots the culprit: a red and purple blade, sticking straight through his chest.

That would do it.

Riku pulls his blade out, careful to turn it so that the angel wing that forms its teeth won’t catch on any organs. It slides out smoothly, clean as a whistle despite its gruesome journey.

Xigbar slumps over and falls, rolling onto his back through sheer momentum. Looking up, he gazes into the cold eyes of Xehanort’s Heartless staring down at him impassively.

“It’s, actually kinda funny,” the Nobody manages to breathe out, the pain fading as his body begins to break down into black particles. “After all, he’s the one who got me into this mess.”

His last words said, Xigbar fades away.

Riku tears his gaze from the spot the Nobody had died on. It had been gruesome business, but necessary. For the sake of Sora and Kairi, he’d do it a hundred times over.

Sora’s going to her now, scrambling to his feet and across the platform. Riku knows he should go, make a clean getaway. But he lingers for a moment, eager to see the reunion he knows he can never be a part of.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Kairi, are you alright?” Sora asks, looking into her half-closed eyes.

“Just fine, Sora,” the girl slurs, giving him a daredevil’s grin. “What happened to Xigbar?”

“I don’t know,” the Keybearer admits.

“Probably you scared him off!” Azlyn boisterously declares. “That Light thing was intense. Cooler than anything Tel’s done.”

“Hey!” the wizard blurts, offended.

The knight shrugs. “Hey, you know I still love you.” Dodging around Kairi’s head, she gives her boyfriend a kiss.

“Oh, no way!” Kairi practically yells, suddenly a lot perkier. Sora helps her to her feet, and she looks down at Azlyn and Telary with a wide smile. “You two finally got your act together!”

“It took forever,” Sora says teasingly. “Seriously, these two were unbearable for, like, weeks!”

“You want unbearable, Kairi,” Azlyn shoots back. ”You don’t wanna know how much this guy moaned and groaned about wanting to see you again. And this was before the whole kidnapping thing, too!”

The Princess of Heart turns to the Keybearer with a wide grin. But the expression on his face isn’t one of happiness. Sora looks downright dejected.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, turning his head to the girl.

She turns, positioning him to face her too. Her blue-violet eyes gaze into his azure pair, mere inches apart.

“Don’t be,” she says. Sora opens his mouth to argue, but she shakes her head. “All that matters is that we’re together now. Nothing else.”

“Kairi…”

She doesn’t let him say anything else, just puts her lips to his. For a moment he’s surprised, too taken aback to respond. But some things, as Azlyn and Telary well know, are just the right thing to do. So, he kisses back, holding her close.

After a moment, the unmistakable _whoosh_ of an opening Dark Portal snaps the lovers out of their trance. They stumble apart, looking up to the source of the noise.

Sora nearly collapses, his mouth dropping open as he looks up into the face of the being that had nearly destroyed everything he held dear. Xehanort’s Heartless stares back for a long moment, then turns to his portal.

“Quick, Tel!” Sora demands, elbowing his wizardly friend. “Fry him, shoot a spell…!”

“Telary, no!” Kairi countermands, her eyes never leaving the escaping form of the man she knows to be Riku. Telary obeys, his hand not even straying towards his staff.

“What are you doing?” Azlyn protests.

“He’s gonna get away!” Sora adds.

“ _Riku_!”

The single word echoes around the room, halting all motion. The trio aren’t quite sure where to look, at Kairi or the man she just called to.

Riku stands still as well, almost unable to comprehend that his secret is now out. The portal is only a few steps away, if he can just shake this off…

“Riku, don’t you dare walk away right now!” Kairi calls up, her tone firm and admonishing. “Get down here this instant!”

Riku hesitates, staring down at the still confused Sora. He’s about to leave, ignore Kairi’s demand and simply walk away.

But there’s a look in Sora’s eyes, a mix of fear and confusion and hope. Suddenly, he knows that he can’t just walk away. With a deep breath, he waves his hand to close the portal. Another gesture opens a second corridor, its corresponding exit appearing on the platform below. Steeling his resolve, Riku walks through.

Everyone stares silently at the portal as by all appearances their greatest enemy emerges from it. Azlyn’s scowling, he entire body tense as every instinct tells her to pounce. But Telary’s arm is across her chest, barring the way.

Sora just stares up into golden eyes, not sure what to believe.

“Alright,” Kairi says, stepping closer to the silver-haired man and grabbing Sora’s hand along the way. He numbly stumbles after her. She reaches out and grabs Riku’s gloved hand as well, bringing it closer to Sora’s. “Don’t worry, you’ll understand soon. Just close your eyes.”

Sora takes a deep breath, purses his lips, and follows Kairi’s orders. He blocks out everything else, until all he can see is black, all he can sense the feeling of two hands: one of soft skin, the other covered by a leather glove.

And then, suddenly, Riku appears before him.

He’s different than the last time Sora saw him, taller and wearing an Organization coat. His silver hair is several inches longer, a bit darker two. Through the bangs, blue-green eyes twinkle in the surrounding dark. The older boy’s expression is carefully blank, but something joyful still manages to shine through in those eyes.

After a long moment, Sora opens his own eyes, Xehanort’s Heartless standing before him once again. But now there’s no fear, no lingering doubts. Whoever he may appear to be, this is Riku.

“Riku,” Sora breathes, swallowing thickly. “Riku, you’re here. I can’t believe… I looked everywhere for you.” Suddenly weak, Sora slumps to his knees, still holding onto Riku’s hand even as Kairi takes a respectful step back. “I didn’t know where you were, if you were dead or alive! And then the king talked about some promise, but I didn’t…”

“I made him promise,” Riku says, trying and failing to keep from openly expressing his own joy at this reunion. Despite the altered body, his voice still sounds like Riku to Sora. “I didn’t want you to see me like... Like this.”

Sora stands, dropping Riku’s hand and blinking away the sudden tears in his eyes. “Hey, Riku,” he says after a moment. “I don’t know what you were freaking out about. I mean, c’mon man.” He sniffles, a grin creeping across his face. “You’ve always been taller than me!”

Riku’s mouth drops open, unable to reform a response. All that time worrying, fearing rejection, and _that’s_ what Sora has to say? Kairi is laughing hysterically beside the boys, reaching out and grabbing Sora’s arm to support her. Azlyn and Telary are laughing too, but more sedately.

“So you _were_ the one who left us those clues,” Telary says slowly, grasping for a familiar thread in all this sudden strangeness. Riku or not, the man before him still sounds _exactly_ like Xehanort’s Heartless.

“Yeah,” Riku replies, smirking a bit. “Though to be honest, I was worried you weren’t gonna pick up on it. Sora’s never chosen the brightest friends.”

“Yeah, sure,” Azlyn scoffs, rolling her eyes. “Or that aren’t a huge pain in the ass.” After a moment, she realizes the implications of her words. “No, wait…”

They all have a good laugh about that, or perhaps it hasn’t anything to do with the knight’s blunder at all.

“But, that body,” Kairi interrupts once the laughter dies down. “Are you stuck like that forever? Or…”

Riku sighs, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I had to take the form of Xehanort’s Heartless to fully use the Darkness. I guess some part of it was still left even after I defeated it. To change back… I’m just not sure.”

“Nothing’s over yet,” Sora declares, slamming a fist deliberately into his open palm. He’s smiling, his grin seeming to radiate a light to rival that of Kingdom Hearts above. “King Mickey went to look for Ansem the Wise. They’ll have a plan!”

“I got a plan too,” Azlyn speaks up, stepping closer to the others. “Kick ass!”

Telary rolls his eyes as he follows beside her. “And whenever she plans something, I inevitably get dragged along.”

“This time, I’m fighting _with_ you guys,” Kairi adds, expression a mixture of gumption and joy. Her flowery Keyblade is back in hand. “No more getting left behind!”

“Looks like you’ve got yourself a crew, Sora,” Riku tells his younger friend, smirking in a way only he can.

“Better than that,” Sora corrects. “I’ve got friends.” He summons Kingdom Key and thrusts it into the air. “Let’s finish this. Go Team Keyblade!”

For a moment the room is silent, unless one can hear the purely metaphysical noise of the mood crashing to the ground.

“Yeah, we’re not calling ourselves that,” Azlyn flatly states.

“I’m definitely with her,” Telary agrees.

Sora looks hopefully to his friends from the islands, but they don’t seem any more encouraging.

“Sorry, Sora,” Kairi apologizes, shrugging.

“Not gonna happen,” Riku declares with finality.

Sora sighs, rolling his eyes. “Okay, fine, no Team Keyblade.” Getting another idea, the boy holds up his right hand. “All for one?”

Everyone mutters their ascent. Grinning triumphantly, Sora sticks his hand into the middle of his circle of friends. One by one, they add their hands to his.

“All for one…” the Keyblade wielder practically shouts, smiling giddily in anticipation.

“ _And one for all!"_


	48. Sacred Moon

For all the pomp, circumstance, and foreboding that seemed to surround infiltrating the enemy’s fortress, Ansem and Mickey have had a relatively quiet ascension up the outer walkways of the Castle That Never Was.

Ansem hasn’t said anything, and neither has the king of Disney Castle. The wind blows with a soft whistle, their feet clink against the metal surface, and of course both of them draw breath. But other than that, silence.

“Do ya think the kids got outta that hall okay?” Mickey wonders once he finally can’t stand the quietude. They’re passing through a covered section of the walkway, and his high-pitched voice bounces off the ceiling. “Can’t help but think there should be more noise, if they’re making their way through.”

“The five of them together?” Ansem says, shaking his head mirthfully. “I’ve no doubt they are safe. And as for this stillness, I imagine we are a long way up from their current position. Besides, the geometry of this castle may not follow any rules we know.”

“It is kind of a strange thing to just have hanging around,” Mickey agrees with a short nod. “Do ya think the Organization created it, or did they just find it?”

“There are so many mysteries in the vastness of the universe,” the former DiZ notes with a chuckle. “Solving them all should be quite impossible I’d think.” He sighs, deep and regretful. “Sad, that I should learn that lesson too late.”

Mickey’s about to say something, suggest again that his old friend stop beating himself up, but before he can Ansem's eyes visibly widen. The blond scientist rushes forward, surprisingly quick for a man his age.

Mickey catches up with him quickly, despite his tiny legs. Ansem stands at the edge of the walkway, a flat landing on an otherwise upward slope. The shining “moon” that is Kingdom Hearts hovers close, nigh blinding at this altitude.

“This spot should serve perfectly,” the deposed ruler of Radiant Garden declares, setting his massive device down. It rests precariously on the bottom globe, until the old scientist pulls out three legs for it to rest on.

“I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, but what exactly does your contraption do?” Mickey asks, prepared for anything. Years of Chip, Dale, and loony old Professor Ludwig von Drake’s experiments have taught him to expect the unexpected.

“This is how we shall reclaim Kingdom Hearts,” Ansem explains, fiddling with the contraption’s antenna and typing in a few commands on its small keyboard. “By encoding the hearts stored within it as data.”

Mickey frowns. “Are you sure that’s the right solution? I kinda had the idea in my head that we could free the component hearts. This only traps them in a different way!”

Ansem nods gravely, still fiddling. “I fear this may be the only truly viable solution. Better than the alternative.”

“You mean Xemnas getting a heart?”

Ansem solemnly shakes his head. “I fear that is not the true purpose the so-called Superior of Organization XIII has in mind. The power of Kingdom Hearts, even one artificially constructed, is awe-inspiring. It is too great for any one being to control, Nevermind the use one puts it to.”

“I suppose when you put it like that…” Mickey relents, still feeing vaguely uncomfortable.

“In truth, however, even I cannot proclaim to know the outcome of this endeavor,” Ansem admits, inputting a last few commands. “The theory is sound, based on the digitization machine I acquired the blueprints for from the same company that I copied my computer system from.”

“The machine that put us in your digital Twilight Town,” Mickey recalls, nodding as the sparse information in his mind knits into a more complete whole. “And got Sora, Azlyn, and Telary sucked into that computer world.”

“The very same,” Radiant Garden’s former ruler agrees, looking troubled. “Those were successful cases, but only involved the transfer of a few hearts. Conscious ones, at that. Who knows if the machine can handle the sheer volume of this entity? And besides, hearts are unpredictable.”

That said, Ansem inputs one last command. His machine springs to life, a green beam about as thick as both a man’s arms shooting up at the glowing “moon” hanging above. There’s a beep as the device confirms contact, and Ansem and Mickey settle in to await the results of their venture.

**KH-KH-KH**

“What’s that?” Kairi suddenly asks aloud, stopping the rest of the party in their tracks. They all turn to face the wall of windows on the corridor’s right, Kingdom Hearts shining softly in the sky over the dark city.

The Princess of Heart points to a thin beam of green energy, shooting up to the heart-shaped “moon” like a connect-the-dots line.

“Probably DiZ,” Riku suggests. “I mean, Ansem the Wise, and Mickey.” He doesn’t notice Azlyn and Telary grimace at the informality. “They must be higher up.”

“Are they trying to shoot down Kingdom Hearts?” Sora wonders aloud. “They couldn’t do that, right?”

“I don’t think so,” Telary answers, a bit unsteadily. “At least, not with a beam that size. It’s got to be something else.”

“We’re wasting time by just standing around talking about it,” Riku declares, already ten steps ahead.

“I hate to say it, and I _truly_ mean that, but I agree with Riku,” Azlyn says, walking along after him. Telary follows beside her, their hands occasionally brushing.

Sora and Kairi bring up the rear, and the redheaded girl can’t help but notice the slightly lost look on her boyfriend’s face.

“What’s up?” she quietly asks him, taking his arm in hers and pulling him closer. He says nothing for a long moment, leaving her to infer. “Is it Riku?”

“He’s still acting weird,” Sora replies, sighing. “Have you noticed that every time I start to catch up with him, he starts walking faster? What’s up with that?”

“Well, it might have something to do with the way you tried to hold his hand,” Kairi answers teasingly. When all that gets her is an annoyed frown, the Princess of Heart clears her throat and attempts seriousness. “Just give him some space, Sora.”

The Keybearer scoffs at this suggestion. “I think he had plenty of space when he was sneaking around the worlds all by himself, Kairi.”

The redhead nods. “And maybe that’s just it. He’s been alone for a long time. Being around people, especially close friends, might take some getting used to. But he’ll come around.”

Sora nods, giving the girl a bright grin. “Man, Kairi, did you spend all that time without us on the island reading psychology books, or what?”

She giggles. “Hardly. I also did a little sword training, as I’m sure you noticed. Not bad, huh?”

Sora hesitates, unsure of how honestly to comment on the girl’s serviceably but undeniably amateur moves. Luckily, he’s saved by Azlyn’s call to hurry up. Shrugging weakly at Kairi, the Keybearer powerwalks the next few feet.

The Keybearer stops abruptly upon entering the next room. He cocks his head slightly, a little unsure of what it is he’s seeing.

“It’s like a graveyard,” he finally says after a moment.

It’s an apt description. The floor slopes up towards the exit, what can only be described as gravestones, inscribed with a black Nobody symbol, rising along its length. Set into the floor in front of each marker are rectangular panels. Most of them glow a faint, dull red. All but two out of twelve.

“So there _were_ more members than just the ones we met,” Telary notes, stepping up to examine the nearest “grave”. The silhouette of a scythe decorates its panel, beneath a small plaque that reads ‘The Graceful Assassin’.

“So what happened to them?” Azlyn asks.

“For the most part, you guys did,” Riku answers, drawing all attention to him. “Though I did handle a few myself.”

“Does this have to do with that pod thing?” Sora says, unsure why that’s coming up at this moment. “Are we just missing a whole chunk of our lives?”

The loud sound of a loogie being hawked precludes an answer. Surprised and more than a little disgusted, everyone turns to look at Azlyn, standing over a dull red panel.

The knight shrugs. “No idea why I did that. I can only guess this ‘Savage Nymph’ deserved it.”

While everyone else spreads out to examine the graves, Sora stays near the entrance and watches. Until suddenly he feels his feet moving, maneuvering him towards the farthest grave. The plate before the headstone glows bright blue instead of red, and Sora instantly knows that means its representative member still yet lives.

“The Key of Destiny,” he reads quietly, gazing down at the crossed silhouettes of Oathkeeper and Oblivion. He looks up, gravely surveying the only indications that most of Organization XIII’s Nobodies ever existed. Even knowing that they were his enemies, Sora can’t help but feel the slightest pang of sympathy.

“Guys!” Azlyn’s voice suddenly calls out, drawing all attention to her. The marker she’s standing in front of glows blue, the light forming an eerily shimmering doorway. “We got a live one over here!”

“Saïx,” Riku declares, stopping by Azlyn’s side and giving the portal a disapproving look. “Other than Xemnas, he’s the only Organization member left alive.”

“He’s the one who grabbed me after I escaped Axel,” Kairi says, her usually bright gaze going flat. “Not the most cheerful guy.”

“He came across as cold to me too,” Telary agrees. “Even for a Nobody.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Sora asks, drawing everyone’s attention as he steps up behind them. “Once he’s out of the picture, all that’s left is Xemnas. And then we can all go home.” The crowd parts, making a path from Sora to the glowing marker. “Let’s do this.”

**KH-KH-KH**

The quintet round a bend in the hall just outside the grave-portal, filing into a rectangular white and grey room with a wall of windows looking out over the world below. Kingdom Hearts shines through it and into the room, perfectly framing the robed silhouette standing before the window.

“So, you’ve made it this far,” Saïx’s voice, tinged with cruelty instead of its usual flat blandness, greets them. He turns and gives the group a thin smirk, his eyes resting on Sora.

“Careful Sora,” Riku cautions his younger friend. “He’s boosting his power somehow, I can sense it.”

Saïx says nothing, only flicks his hand slightly. White flashes, taller even than Riku, explode into existence and leave behind two hulking Berserker Nobodies. They fall on the group like a mountain avalanche, driving Riku and Kairi back with their huge blades. Both summon their Keyblades and fall back, Azlyn and Telary going for the creatures’ exposed backs.

Sora, trusting his friends to handle the lesser Nobodies, rolls forward to confront Saïx, Kingdom Key materializing in his hand as he rises to his feet. Looking at the blue-haired Nobody, he suddenly feels a tide of anger welling up inside of him. This is the man who kidnapped Kairi and threw her in a cell, but somehow Sora feels angry for more reasons than even that.

“Well, I haven’t seen that expression in quite some time,” Saïx comments, summoning his blue and white claymore to hand. “It seems there are some benefits to your reunion. A surprisingly good decision, Roxas.”

“Stop calling him that!” Telary declares, suddenly rushing to Sora’s right side and flinging his arms out in front of the boy.

“He’s Sora!” Azlyn agrees from the left, her arms extended protectively too.

“Guys,” Sora begins to explain, “the thing about this ‘Roxas’ thing is…”

“Just let us handle this,” Azlyn orders, drawing her shield. She glances back to Kairi and Riku, fighting against the Berserkers. “Can’t have anybody forgetting who the _real_ wacky sidekicks are around here.”

“I see,” the Luna Diviner murmurs quietly to himself. “Well, in the end it’s no matter what you’re called.” He flicks his wrist again, and suddenly the top of his claymore splits in two and enlarges, three blades emerging from each half. “Different name, same fate.”

Azlyn charges as Telary launches three small fireballs, all headed directly for Saïx. The Nobody pays them no mind, throwing his head back and his arms out. He rises into the air surrounded by a strange pale blue power, his claymore rising with him and turning a lazy circle in the air. The room’s electric lamps grow darker, the light of Kingdom Hearts only becoming more clear and radiant.

“Can you feel it?” Saïx screams with wild abandon. Azlyn stops in her tracks, and the fireballs die out without hitting a target. “The moon’s power!”

The Nobody dives towards the ground, grabbing his claymore and raising it high above his head. Azlyn barely has time to back up before he slams to the white floor, a curtain of pale blue fire extending to either side of him. She flips away as the blue-haired man charges, swinging his blade around in a wide horizontal arc.

Sora rushes in to join her, slashing down at Saïx’s torso. The Keyblade impacts against the Nobody’s chest, only to unleash another fiery explosion. Sora falls back, flames licking at his clothes and dying out as they come into contact with the magical fabric.

Saïx follows, slamming his weapon into the ground once again. Blue flames splash out from the impact point, forcing his opponents off-balance. The Nobody takes advantage, charging still and pounding the ground with every step.  Sora and Azlyn wince as the Luna Diviner approaches, only to be saved by the sudden appearance of a Reflect spell’s barrier conjured by Telary.

The shield momentarily disrupts Saïx’s berserk attack, giving the spell a chance to gather and redirect its momentum and fire power. A ball of Light explodes like a grenade, throwing the madman back several feet.

Azlyn decides to take a page from her opponent’s book, letting out a loud scream and charging forward. The Reflect spell seems to have knocked the blue-haired man out of his rage, the lights going up again.

But even without sheer madness to aid him, Saïx is a formidable foe. He raises his claymore in an expert block, knocking Azlyn back. With a grunt he swings forward, only failing to bisect the knight thanks to her quickly raised shield. She skids even further away, passing Sora as he charges forward.

Saïx swings down at the Keybearer. But Sora’s too quick, ducking to the side and attacking with his own weapon. The Nobody’s blade is already where Sora swings, deflecting the blow easily. Saïx turns the Keyblade aside, striking out with his fist and slamming Sora in the chest. Yelping, the Keybearer falls back.

Bolts of lightning fall suddenly from the sky above Saïx, shocking the blue-haired Nobody with hundreds of volts. He stumbles to the side, grunting as Azlyn’s foot connects with his chin.

The knight lands and whirls for a slash with her shield’s edge, but Saïx backs away and slams his blade into her side. She goes flying, landing on the floor and skidding to a halt.

Telary gathers his will for another spell, but before he can Saïx is in the air again, the room’s lights dimming to make Kingdom Hearts the sole source of illumination.

“Moon, shine down!” Saïx howls, once again landing like a ton of exploding bricks. The detonation crashes outward, slamming into the window wall and shattering a huge section into splinters. He dives forward immediately, making his way towards Sora. “ALL SHALL BE LOST TO YOU!!!”

The Keybearer realizes there’s nothing he can do but run away, noting his companions doing their best to avoid the fiery shockwaves of the Nobody’s claymore. As he gets going, he quickly sees Kairi and Riku working together against the sole remaining Berserker.

Kairi makes a quick tap against its side before ducking out, narrowly avoiding its sword slamming into her from above. With the creature distracted, it’s Riku’s turn to strike. He leaps up and slams his wing-shaped Keyblade downward.

Caught up in the struggles of his old friends, Sora doesn’t realize Saïx has caught up to him until it’s too late. The shockwave from a ground pound strikes him on the backs of his knees, sending him into a desperate tumble.

Telary leaps to his friend’s defense, throwing up a Reflect spell and hoping for the same results as last time.

His hopes are dashed as Saïx slams his claymore full-on into the barrier, overcoming the magic and sending small, useless particles of Light energy flying. As for the wizard himself, he goes flying from the force of it, backwash from his own spell burning his exposed skin.

The sight and sound of her boyfriend’s defeat activates a rage inside Azlyn that just might match Saïx’s moon-induced psychopathy. She rushes towards the Luna Diviner with a wild yell, all thoughts of clever maneuvers and strategy lost to the wind. He notices and turns to charge her as well, building momentum with every step.

The pair slam into each other, claymore meeting shield in an explosion of blue flame. Azlyn is luckily close enough to Saïx that the fire originates about a foot away from her, and all she has to deal with is the madman’s sheer strength.

Sora, taking advantage of the distraction Azlyn’s provided, leaps towards Saïx with the Keyblade held out for a stab. But Saïx, even in his bloodthirsty state, is not one to be caught off guard. He grunts and pushes forward a step, his pale fire naturally shooting up all around him like a dozen flaming geysers.

Sora slams into one of these columns instead of his enemy. He screams, his mind suddenly flooded with pain as much of the hair on his forearms suddenly burns away, adding a horribly acrid scent to the air.

Her friend’s pained scream shocks Azlyn out of her fury, all the power anger lent her burning away like the follicles on Sora’s arms. Saïx immediately senses her weakness, backing up a step and slamming into her with his whole body.

She pitches back and falls to the floor like a discarded doll, bouncing up and away to land with a heavy thud near the broken window. She groans and tries to rise, only to drop back to the ground facefirst.

Telary, the last man standing, throws up a weak curtain of lightning to distract and pain the insane Nobody. It succeeds in little more than earning him a few seconds of relief, but that’s time enough to cast Cure on Sora to heal the Keybearer’s intense burns.

Sora’s head clears as the pain recedes, leaving only a lingering fatigue. He struggles to his feet, watching through a hazy curtain as Saïx rushes Telary. The wizard backs away and hurls a fireball. It’s small though, barely the size of Sora’s fist. A slam from the Nobody’s claymore brings up a wall of flame to intercept it, the fires cancelling each other out. Undeterred, Saïx’s charge continues.

Sora rushes for the blue-haired maniac, hoping to intercept him before he reaches the clearly drained Telary. But he catches a shockwave halfway through the charge, disrupting his already precarious balance. He stumbles and falls to one knee, gasping as the impact against the metal floor rattles his entire frame.

A loud noise of impact, accompanied by Saïx’s vicious snarl and a yelp from Telary, draws the Keybearer’s attention away from his own pain. Looking up, he gasps as Telary goes flying, his feet leaping almost a meter above the floor. The wizard smacks into the window, breaking the glass and sending him plummeting through the open air.

Sora regains his feet, body suddenly reacting on pure instinct. In the background he can hear Kairi cry out in alarm, but it’s only a faint sound compared to the blood pumping in his ears. He takes off towards Saïx, a berserk rage of his own threatening to override any sense.

But at the last second something else comes over him, realigning his course to take him not to Saïx, but Azlyn’s prone form and the broken window that lies beyond. He dismisses the Keyblade as he goes, stooping to haul the knight up by her arm. With a sense of purpose he can hardly explain, the Keybearer and his semi-conscious companion dive through the open window and into the night.

The room is suddenly quiet, Riku and Kairi both skewering their lesser Nobody opponent on their blades. As one they turn to Saïx, expressions hard.

The Nobody whirls to face them, the berserker fury engulfing him seeking out and finding its new targets. He unleashes a wordless scream, diving for the pair.

Riku protectively pushes Kairi to the side, Keyblade held ready. As Saïx comes at them with all the power of a Twilight Town train, the transformed young man’s brain is working overtime to decipher why Sora had taken Azlyn and leapt out that window. Surely his young friend must have a plan, but what in the worlds could it be?

There’s no more time to contemplate as Saïx reaches him, screaming incoherently as his tall weapon slams down. Riku catches the blow on his blade, the pair sliding back against the white floor. For once he’s thankful for this form’s increased strength, considerably lessening the burden of holding this madman back.

Suddenly, a column of pure white Light explodes outside the shattered window. It throws everyone off, Saïx disengaging and whirling around as his berserker trance breaks. For a moment that seems to stretch for hours, everything is still.

And then Sora, his outfit gleaming white, bursts into the room like a bat out of Hell. Two Keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion, float behind his back, whirling like propellers. He hovers in the air, his expression tight and determined.

“You wanted _Roxas_ , didn’t you Saïx?” the Keybearer declares tauntingly, his voice subtly mixing with that of another. “Well, here he is!”

The young man dives forward like a shot from a gun, at the last second pulling to a stop and thrusting his arms forward. Oathkeeper and Oblivion react to the motion, whirling around and spinning into the Nobody’s torso. He howls and flies back, spinning to stop his slide.

Coming to a rest, Saïx throws his head back and arms out, the moon’s power gathering around him once more as the light dims.

But before he can gather all he needs to, Kairi rushes in with a defiant yell, holding her Keyblade down. Skidding to a stop in front of the Nobody, she swipes her blade up and into his torso. Concentration lost, the Luna Diviner stumbles back.

Sora dive-bombs him, thrusting out his arms and sending his Keyblades to whirl into the stunned Nobody’s chest. He howls in pain and frustration, rendered immobile by the assault. After a long moment, Sora psychically pulls his blades back.

Saïx is on the floor, gasping for breath. A bright light momentarily surrounds Sora, before fading out and depositing the Keybearer, Azlyn, and Telary on the floor. Thanks to the fusion’s healing power, none of them look worse for wear. They, along with Kairi and Riku regard Saïx with an odd kind of pity.

“If I… had a heart,” the Nobody laments, looking up and out the window as pieces of his body begin to fade out in dark wisps. He lurches forward on hands and knees, the heroes watching him with still expressions. The blue-haired man moans, stopping in front of the window and raising a futile hand to the mystical moon. “Kingdom Hearts! Where, is my heart?”

He falls, a column of dark energy consuming him and leaving nothing behind but tufts of black mater, drifting through the air like falling petals. Sora watches them, something inside of him regretting his enemy’s fate.

“Sora,” Azlyn speaks up first, her voice uncharacteristically soft. He turns to the knight, noting the nervous way she bites her lip. “When we… combined, that time. I could feel something… Some _one_ else in there with us.”

Telary nods, confirming his own identical feeling. “It has something to do with the Organization calling you Roxas, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Sora answers in a low voice. “Y’see, guys, Roxas is my Nobody.”

The pair’s eyes go wide. “You had a Nobody?” Azlyn blurts. “But how did…?”

“From when you became a Heartless,” Telary answers for his young friend. “When you… You stabbed yourself with that dark Keyblade.”

“When he came to rescue me,” Kairi chimes in.

“I only just found out about him,” Sora continues, looking away from the group. “He… came to me I guess.”

“So, he got his wish,” Riku says to himself. Everyone turns to him, and he looks back and elaborates. “Xemnas found Roxas, and brought him into the Organization.”

“He showed me that,” Sora confirms.

“Roxas could use the Keyblade, because he was your Nobody,” Riku continues, crossing his arms. “Naturally Xemnas used that for his plans. But Roxas betrayed them, left the group. That’s when I fought him, hoping he could help you wake up.”

“He said he defeated you.”

The transformed young man nods. “He was a formidable opponent, kinda like you. I didn’t have enough power to defeat him.” He looks away. “Not until I gave in to the Darkness in my heart.”

“But, why’d he go rogue?” Azlyn asks. “Turn on the Organization?”

Riku smiles. “That’s just it. I think he wanted to meet you, Sora.”

The Keybearer says nothing for a long moment, turning to look at Kingdom Hearts. Had Roxas once believed as the other Organization members did, that it would be his salvation? Sora can’t help but wonder how their reunion compared.

“You said you did end up meeting,” Kairi says, laying a hand on the boy’s shoulder and getting him to turn back to the group.

Sora nods. “He said… He said I made a good other.”

“He was right about that, Sora,” the redhead agrees. Around her, the others nod as well.

“C’mon,” Riku declares firmly, turning to head for the exit. “We’ve still got things to do.”

One by one everyone falls into step behind the silver-haired man, until only Sora remains. He sneaks another look at Kingdom Hearts through the window, and for the briefest of moments he swears he can see the reflection of a blond young man, nodding approvingly.

**KH-KH-KH**

Ansem the Wise locks his knees in tight, bracing himself as his digitizing machine bucks under the strain of its mission. Holding the thing down is an arduous task, but he knows that letting it run wild is not an option.

“Tell me about them,” the old man grunts, startling his small compatriot. He’d been silent for so long, no wonder it had been a shock to the mouse king.

“Tell ya about who?” Mickey asks.

“Azlyn and Telary. Tell me how they’ve grown.”

Mickey nods in understanding, grinning. “They’re great kids, Ansem. Brave and strong, loyal as all get out. Crazy in love too, by the looks of it.”

The blond man smiles, shaking his head. “I always knew they would be remarkable, ever since they were small. Kairi as well.” His smile turns down, now almost a frown. “The times I spent with them and their grandmother were among the happiest of my life.”

“I guess that’s just another reason for you to hate Xehanort, isn’t it?”

Ansem sighs. “True, and the thought influenced more than one of my actions. But, in truth I fear it is my own personal failings that shadow those memories. As time rolled on, I spent less and less time with them. Less time interacting with and governing my people. I became too wrapped up in my experiments and musings. Ironic.”

Mickey quirks an eyebrow. “How so?”

“My studies concerned the heart,” Radiant Garden’s former ruler answers bitterly. “And yet in my pursuit of knowledge I neglected the very people that were close to mine.”

The king steps up to his friend, face hard and determined. “You didn’t neither! When Kairi went missing, you were the one who knew we had to get Azlyn and Telary away. Ya saved their lives!”

The encoding machine jumps again, this one particularly violent. Ansem grits his teeth and holds on with all he’s got.

“I’m a fool!” the scientist declares with a boisterous laugh, loud and proudly. “Even after years of research and study, my knowledge of hearts is woefully inadequate. Hearts are so much more than data, too complex to be encoded. They act of their own volition, refusing to be qualified or quantified. For evidence of that, you need look no further than Sora.”

Mickey wants to say something, assuage his friend’s fear and self-loathing. But the words simply aren’t there, the calm reassurance that has become his trademark deserting him in this crucial moment.

“It’s always the same,” Ansem sighs, his mouth twisting with disgust. “I try to wrap my mind around things that my hearts already knows to be true, and thus fail.” The machine begins to spark, shaking ever more violently with no signs of letting up. “This machine is no different. My last great failure.” He turns to his friend. “You must run, my old friend! It’s going to self-destruct, and anything could happen.”

“Your Majesty!”

The Keybearer king gasps at the sound of his title, accompanied by several pairs of feet approaching swiftly. Turning, he spots Sora and his companions rushing across the bridge. They skid to a stop in front of Mickey, looking bewilderedly from Kingdom Hearts to the digitization machine.

“What’s going on?” Sora asks, furrowing his brow.

“I’m afraid it’s up to all of you to finish this,” Ansem says with a weak smile. He spares a brief glance to Azlyn and Telary before focusing on the Keybearer. “And Roxas… I doubt you can hear me but, I am truly sorry.”

Sora finds himself nodding without making any conscious decision to do so.

“You saved us, didn’t you?” Telary suddenly speaks up, he and Azlyn stepping closer to the older man. “You kept us out of Xehanort’s hands.”

Ansem nods, a bit sadly. “It was the least of the things I could have done for you, trust me.”

“Still…” Azlyn says, a bit uncomfortable with the emotion in her voice. “Thank you.”

“See what I mean?” Mickey calls to his friend, stepping closer with an extended hand. “You don’t have to do this, you’ve already…!”

“Mickey,” Riku says, bending down to seize the king by the back of his jacket. The mouse looks up at him, and for a silent moment they share a sad, steady gaze. “His heart’s decided. We can’t change that now.”

Dark energy begins swirling behind the battered old man, and in a moment Xemnas stands at Ansem's back. The Organization’s superior regards the scene with his usual cold calculation.

Sora reacts on instinct, Keyblade out and ready as he’s charging. Xemnas dully takes note of the boy’s charge, and casually sweeps a hand in front of himself. A rectangular barrier of crackling energy, taller than the Keybearer by several feet, springs into existence.

Sora bounces off of it, grunting in pain and surprise when it sends electricity shooting through his body. He falls back, limbs still spasming as Telary and Azlyn catch him.

“I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts,” Xemnas says, turning back to his old mentor as if the episode with Sora had never occurred. “And here you are. And you brought some help this time, I see.” He shakes his head in mock-bemusement. “Ansem the Wise, as pathetic as ever.”

Ansem sighs. “Go on, have your laugh. I deserve it, after all. For not seeing you for the reckless fool you were.”

“A fool, was I?” Xemnas counters, some bite in his otherwise smooth voice. “Well, how could I not be? After all, students do tend to take after their teachers. Everything I became, I learned from you.”

“You’re nothing like him!” Mickey yells, barely restrained by Riku. “Your experiments were sick and wrong!”

“And who, mouse king, do you think inspired that research?” the Nobody spits back, waving his arm sweepingly towards Ansem. “The only difference is that I was willing to go further than he ever dared! In the end, it all comes down to him. You, Ansem the so-called Wise, are the source of all Heartless!”

“And what were you seeking?” Ansem spits back, grunting with the effort of holding his machine down. “You erased me from the world, took my name, and continued research better left forgotten! You ravaged my home, cast out my people! For what, Xehanort? Have you found the answer you were looking for?”

“All that and more,” Xehanort’s Nobody answers, simple and matter-of-fact. He points up at Kingdom Hearts. “Your interest was always in the heart’s power, and finally I shall be able to utilize it fully. I’ll create a new world, one heart at a time. Is that not worthy of praise, old man? Not to you, your heart consumed by jealousy for the student who surpassed you.”

“You have surpassed nothing,” Ansem quietly retaliates, shaking his head sadly. “You were correct on one account, Xehanort: You are a fool, apprenticed by a foolish man. We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We know nothing more now than we did at the start. That is why any world you may try to create, any world of yours… Would only be an empire of ignorance. That, my former apprentice, is why you shall fail.”

The sparks and shaking emanating from the digitization machine increase tenfold, the impossible task of encoding hearts finally beginning its ultimate failure. Ansem, only holds on tighter, turning to Sora and his group with a determined gaze.

“We have said enough!” Radiant Garden’s scientist king declares, steel in his voice a meter thick. “Mickey, Kairi, Azlyn, Telary, forgive me!”

With one last violent shudder, the pressure inside Ansem's machine becomes too great to bear. Light begins to leak out of the device, so purely bright that the others can only look away.

Azlyn and Telary duck their heads and hold Sora tighter, Riku sweeps Mickey in his arms, turning away from the blast with his body shielding Kairi. The light washes over them, exploding upwards in a brilliant white column a hundred feet high.

**KH-KH-KH**

Hearts fall from the white pillar, drifting slowly down over the empty metropolis below. Dusks, minor Nobodies with only the barest spark of sentience, instinctively seek what they lack. Their handless arms wave in the air as the hearts wash down, every one of them just out of reach.

Instead they reach the ground, each momentarily dissolving into a swirling vortex before disappearing entirely. Dark portals, inky pools of swirling black, emerge in their place. Shadow Heartless crawl forth from each, one for every heart. A trivial matter it seems, the weakest breed of the Heartless swarm. Each no more nuisance than a common mosquito, compared to the heroes above.

But there are hundreds, thousands, a force so overwhelming it makes the showdown in the canyons of Hollow Bastion seem trivial, a light skirmish. Each one hungry for a heart, searching for their chance to grow, thrive, propagate.

But the city is empty of the sustenance they crave, dead and dry as the desert. The only hearts they sense are above, floating high in the sky. And such strong hearts too, hearts of great courage and Light. One even holds nothing but Light!

And so the Heartless drift upward, a horde seeking to staunch its insatiable hunger.

  **KH-KH-KH**

Sora groans as consciousness returns, bringing pain along for the ride. For a moment there’s an intense burning, a feeling reminiscent of Axel’s suicidal conflagration. Then that fades, leaving only a vague soreness deep in his weary bones.

He raises his head, waiting for the white edges of his vision to fill in. His thoughts are with his friends, hoping in his heart that they’ve all come away unscathed.

Finally the intense brightness fades out, leaving the Keybearer staring straight into a close-up of Telary’s chest. He turns his head, coming face-to-face with Azlyn, the knight still unconscious from the blast.

Taking great care to not disturb his friends, Sora places his palms flat on the walkway and pushes himself up. For a moment his arms throb, but he grits his teeth and finishes his simple yet excruciating task.

He closes his eyes, pulling in a deep breath before letting it go. His eyelids open, taking in the surrounding area. Xemnas is gone, Ansem the Wise and his machine similarly disappeared. Sora’s heart grows heavy at the thought of the fallen king, finally achieving peace at the end. But what good are lessons if you’ve no time left to apply them?

He turns away, checking over the others. Mickey and Kairi are hunched together, the mouse king gathering his wits in much the same way as Sora had. Kairi is motionless, and the Keybearer’s heart freezes at the thought of something unfortunate having befallen her. But a closer inspection reveals the rise and fall of her chest and stomach, her eyes fluttering open.

Glad that she’s safe, Sora moves on, looking for Riku-as-Xehanort among the pile of cataleptic bodies. As it happens, he’s lying next to Kairi, one of her hands resting on the back of his black coat.

Sora is about to get himself up, his gaze drifting away from his transformed friend, when suddenly he’s hit with a realization. Gasping, the Keybearer turns his eyes back on Riku, this time noting a distinct difference in appearance.

Riku’s hair, while still retaining its silvery color, is no longer kept in the slicked-straight waterfall favored by Sora’s old nemesis. It spikes out, longer and wilder with a black cloth tied in a knot just barely visible through the locks. He also, Sora notes, shrunk a few inches in the moments between explosion and awareness.

“Riku!” the spiky-haired hero calls out, getting to his feet and stepping closer to his insensate friend.

The silver-haired boy groans in response, lifting himself up in a process that seems even more painful than the one Sora endured not seconds ago. For a moment he’s clearly disoriented, his gaze sweeping the catwalk’s floor as if the answers to all life’s questions are ingrained on it.

Then suddenly the young man perks up, gasping as he realizes something has changed. He lifts his head, hair falling back to reveal not the visage of Xehanort’s Heartless, but the strong, handsome face of Riku himself!

“Riku!” Sora repeats, dropping to his knees and preparing to help his friend. Behind him, he can hear the others stirring into wakefulness, but all their sounds seem to fall away.

“Sora?” Riku replies groggily, straightening into a kneeling position of his own. Kairi’s hand falls away as he does, its owner regaining her feet. “Sora, is that…?”

“Riku!” Mickey exclaims, his squeaky voice bright with joy. The others are in agreement, each letting out an awed gasp.

Riku looks down at himself, noting the changes in his body. He stands, wobbling momentarily. Sora, rising in time with his friend, reaches out to catch him before he can fall once again. With the two of them working together, Riku gains his feet.

“How did…?” Azlyn breathes out, words failing as she looks upon the older boy.

“Well,” Mickey chimes in, “Ansem did say that anything could happen. I guess this qualifies!”

At the mention of Radiant Garden’s former king, all eyes drift to the empty spot he and his machine once occupied. For a long moment the group is silent, taking in Ansem's sacrifice.

“Man,” Azlyn sighs, shaking her head. “He really…”

“Uh, guys!” Telary interrupts, pointing up to the sky in alarm. The others follow his finger, letting out various noises of surprise as they see what he’s pointing at.

Kingdom Hearts remains in the sky, but no long is it the shining yellow moon they’d known. A hole has been punched through it, black with a swirling pink center. It seems, thankfully, that Ansem the Wise’s efforts were not in vain.

While everyone else keeps fascinated eyes on the moon, Sora turns to Riku. The older boy stands just as still and awed as the others, until he senses his friend’s eyes on him.

“What?” the silver-haired Keybearer asks, one eyebrow raised high.

“Well,” Sora replies, sheepish under his scrutinizing gaze, “I was just wondering if you were gonna take that off.”

“Yeah, how the hell do you see anything with that on anyway?” Azlyn chimes in.

Riku ignores the knight. Instead of saying anything, he simply reaches back and quickly undoes the black blindfold’s knot. He ducks his head and sweeps the cloth off, eyes closed.

After a moment Sora opens his mouth to say something, but Kairi gives him a look that plainly encourages him to let Riku take his time.

Riku looks up, opening his eyes to reveal light blue-green irises. He looks down at Mickey, who nods in confirmation of something the others can’t guess at. He opens his hand and lets the blindfold drift down to the floor.

“So, what was that all about?” Kairi asks, thoroughly confused. The others echo her puzzlement.

“His eyes couldn’t lie,” Mickey answers. Unfortunately, that answer satisfies no one.

For his part, Sora doesn’t seem to care about explanations. “Lie?” The Keybearer places his hands on his hips, leaning towards Riku with a playful smirk. “And just who were you trying to fool?”

Riku looks away. “Only myself. Ansem's power, lingering in my heart… It corrupted me every time I used it, even before I fully accepted it. As long as I couldn’t see my shame, it kept me from assuming his form.”

Sora’s playfulness dies, and he can only lean back and shake his head.

“You know Riku,” the boy says after a moment, “you spend way too much time trying to handle things by yourself. And you don’t need to.” Grinning encouragingly, Sora gestures to the people behind him. “If you needed help, all you had to do was ask us. We’re your friends!”

Mickey nods with a small laugh. Kairi gives the older boy her brightest smile. Telary’s grin is shy and perhaps halfhearted, and Azlyn just shrugs and mutters something under her breath.

And then there’s Sora, beaming with a light that could almost make one think Kingdom Hearts was still whole and shining.

Riku sighs, rolling his eyes at all the affection. “I guess you’re right Sora. I just tend not to think the way you do.” A grin spreads across the older boy’s face. “Which makes sense, ‘cause I’m not a total sap like you!”

Sora looks affronted, his mouth dropping open. Behind him, Azlyn laughs so hard she has to lean on Telary for support.

But the laughter stops as a new sound fills the air, a strange noise like a whine mixed with an industrial vacuum cleaner. Looking up, the party is startled to find Kingdom Hearts glowing once again, a purple aura surrounding the heart-shaped moon. Nobody knows for sure what’s happening, but it can’t be good.

Kairi’s eyes go wide, and the Princess of Hearts rushes to the walkway’s rail. Peering over, she gasps at the sight below. The others join her, Telary lifting the king so he can see over the rail.

A swarm of Shadows scurry up the side of The Castle That Never Was, a million barely sentient minds with a single purpose: Devour hearts.

“Yikes,” Azlyn comments. Everyone can’t help but to nod their agreement with that assessment.

“What should we do now?” Sora poses as a general question, though his eyes are on Mickey.

“We have to take care of Xemnas,” Riku answers, drawing the others’ attention to him. “We damaged his Kingdom Hearts, so Xemnas is gonna be desperate. There’s no telling what he could do. He might even just go ahead and try to absorb what’s left.”

“The Light of Kingdom Hearts destroyed Xehanort’s Heartless,” Telary points out. “How do we know merging with this one won’t, uh, kill Xemnas?”

“Xehanort’s Heartless was a creature of Darkness,” Mickey points out. “Xemnas will probably have a different reaction.”

“He’s the Organization’s last survivor,” Riku concludes. He looks down, noting his black cloak with distaste.

Mickey smiles gently, reaching into his pocket. He draws out a yellow orb, power swirling inside.

“I knew ya’d be back to normal eventually,” the mouse king declares with a grin. “So I had Yen Sid’s fairies whip this up, for when you’d need it.”

Riku reaches out, grabbing the orb and stepping back as its power surround him in white light. When it fades, the cloak has transformed. He wears a sleeveless black top, zipped up with an open collar. Over that is a white vest with yellow beneath a blue line about a third of the way up, its lapels folded over to reveal more yellow. His pants resemble those of his old outfit, a simple pair of baggy blue jeans with a black belt. A white sweatband covers his right forearm.

“Does anyone else suddenly feel the need to do some pushups?” Telary says with a chuckle, eyeing Riku’s large arms. The whole party laughs at that, giving each other nods and bright smiles.

“Okay,” Sora says, looking over his friends with the most serious expression he can muster. “Let’s go show Xemnas what… AH!”

A Dusk suddenly pops up over the walkway rail, reaching out to wrap a limb around the Keybearer. Everyone reacts, summoning or grabbing their weapons as several more Dusks, perhaps a dozen in total, slither onto their path.

Sora quickly pivots and bashes his accoster on the head, dissipating it into a single blow. Two more pop up, and he quickly decapitates them as well.

Riku avoids a headbutt, lashing out with a kick that knocks the lesser Nobody into the air. Mickey leaps and swings his golden Keyblade, cutting the creature into ribbons.

Kairi is forced back by a trio of Dusks, whipping her Keyblade around more or less at random. The technique keeps the Nobodies back, but doesn’t manage to stop their advance.

Until a fireball crashes into the leftmost creature, smoke rising from the impact point. With its focus interrupted, it’s an easy matter for Kairi to nail it. Spinning from her swing’s momentum, she also manages to knock the other two Nobodies back with one hit. Azlyn jumps in there, slashing both to ribbons with her shield’s edge.

Sora slides around a whipping arm and horizontally bisects the Dusk attacking him. That dealt with, he can’t help but take a look around, marveling at the sight of all his friends and allies working together as a team.

“Geeze!” Azlyn exclaims, knocking aside one Dusk that Riku quickly chops down. “I know that look, Sora!”

“You’re thinking something sappy again, aren’t ya?” Riku finishes, laughing as he incinerates a Nobody in dark fire.

“No!” Sora protests, charging forward and working with Mickey to keep a Nobody trio off Telary’s back. “I was just, um…”

“We gotta move, fellas!” Mickey interrupts, leaping up and batting away an approaching Dusk. “Those Heartless are closing quick!”

“The Dusks are thinning!” Telary calls, bashing away an opponent. “Get moving, I think I can use a spell to cover us!”

The others heed his words, rushing toward an entryway back into the castle’s interior. Once they’ve all passed, Telary focuses his concentration and prepares his large spell. Muttering an incantation, he summons a large orb of flame, almost as tall as Azlyn. Grunting, the wizard thrusts his creation into the air. It hovers there, and after a moment several smaller fireballs issue from it, the barrage burning several Dusks and serving as a warning to others. Satisfied, Telary turns to retreat. Azlyn is waiting just behind him, and the two rush inside after the others.

Rushing through white hallway after white hallway, the sextet eventually reaches a massive chamber, platforms in open air spaced meters apart and on several different levels, like a catwalk no one bothered to finish. A strange mist hovers over everything, dark purple and blue smoke mingling. Even with the obscuring fog, everyone can tell it’s a long way down.

“I guess when you can teleport, stairs become kinda optional,” Sora quips with a sheepish grin.

Mickey shakes his head. “You all are too tall to see it, but there’re walkways all the way up. Must be some kinda magic.”

Gingerly, Riku nudges the air in front of the entrance platform with his toe. Suddenly a light sound, like wind chimes in summer breeze, rings out. In a burst of light, several transparent hexagons show themselves.

With everyone satisfied, the group continues their charge upwards. Everywhere they go, Nobodies rise to accost them. And no longer merely Dusks either. Assassins, Snipers, Dragoons, Berserkers. All the lesser Nobodies seem represented, each presenting a particular challenge and obstacle.

Telary is still drained from his Firaga Burst, unable to summon any more energy until sufficiently recovered. Azlyn’s shield seems to barely touch her hand before it’s flung back into the air. Sora and Kairi stand side-by-side, the more experienced Keybearer intervening where his girlfriend can’t quite handle things. Mickey is a nigh-untraceable whirlwind of aerial motion, his golden Keyblade flashing out to decapitate and cut Nobodies in two. Riku handles the heavy hitting, in one case slicing through a Berserker and two attending Samurai in one swing.

Overall it’s slow going, but they manage to make progress through the thicket of creatures. Despite lesser numbers, their strength lies in great coordination and teamwork. When Azlyn misses, Telary is there to knock an opponent down. When a Dusk dances away from Sora, Kairi lashes out and disperses it. Mickey’s orbs of Light and Riku’s dark fireballs crisscross each other midair, providing the long rage support Telary is unable to at the moment.

The climb goes on for several minutes that feel to the combatants like mere moments, everyone lost in the flow of combat. Eventually, after much gruel and hardship, they reach the exit.

“Ugh!” Azlyn exclaims, too exhausted for words at the moment. The others echo her wordless statement.

“Uh,” Kairi speaks up, raising a weary hand. “I hate to be the one to, ugh, give the bad news but…” She points the tip of her Keyblade up, drawing the drained heroes’ attention upwards.

High windows, tall as Merlin’s house in Radiant Garden, open the indoor cavern up to the night air. Shadows swarm in those windows, wiggling and crawling together in a slimy mass. Once over the lip, they drop. Some miss landing entirely simply falling down into the misty abyss. But far more reach nearby platforms, gathering together to form a horde unlike any even Sora, Azlyn, and Telary have seen.

“Shit,” Telary breathes, clenching his teeth at the sight. His magical energy has mostly replenished, but he knows it won’t survive long against that endless swarm.

“It’s gonna be endless!” Riku exclaims in frustration, gritting his teeth and gripping Way To Dawn’s hilt until his hand hurts.

“No, c’mon guys!” Sora encourages the party, mostly succeeding in keeping his voice steady. “We just gotta work together, just like with the Nobodies!”

“By the dark powers,” a familiar cold, feminine voice rings out suddenly around the room. “Trite to the end, I see.”

Flames burst out before the heroes, their color a distinctive green and yellow. When the fire fades, Maleficent and Pete stand before Sora and company.

“Well, this is certainly interesting,” the jade-skinned woman observes. “Everyone who’s ever stabbed me through the heart, all in one place.”

“Oh, just what we…!” Azlyn starts to complain, drawing herself up and preparing her shield.

But she stops short, mouth dropping open, when the villainous duo turn their backs to them.

“You misunderstand me, child,” Maleficent explains. “Once again it seems you shall require my assistance to hold back this tide.”

Pete looks taken aback. “Hey, that ain’t what I signed up for! We’ll never be able to…”

“Whatsa matter, Cap’n?” Mickey mocks the bit cat, grinning slyly. “You weighing anchor?”

Pete’s face hardens with resolve. “You mean like abandon ship? Ha!”

“Maleficent…” Sora says, slowly mustering the will to thank a hated enemy.

“I remind you this is nothing so sentimental,” the witch snaps. “Once this horde is tamed, I shall be sending them after Xemnas. And once he is dealt with, and this castle is mine…” She grins wickedly. “Once again the worlds will learn to fear the name Maleficent.”

“Ya, sure,” Azlyn scoffs, already turning away. “See ya crazy lady!”

The others follow her lead, only Riku pausing to turn back to his old treacherous mentor.

“What is it?” she demands, sweeping forth a line of fire to incinerate several dozen Heartless at once.

“I actually do wanna thank you for something,” the silver-haired Keybearer remarks. “Reminding me that not _everything_ I did when Ansem possessed me was a bad thing.”

To his surprise, the witch laughs. It’s long, loud, and backlit by the sound of Pete’s bombs detonating.

“You may have been designated a pawn, boy,” Maleficent admits with a rueful smile. “But there was always _something_ I genuinely liked about you.”

There’s nothing more to be said, and Riku quickly turns to catch up with the others.

“Do you think she meant it?” Sora ask Azlyn as they climb a narrow staircase upwards. “About taking the castle and sending the Heartless?”

The knight scoffs loudly. “Oh, she meant it alright. Whether or not she can actually pull it off, on the other hand…”

A loud roar suddenly rips through the air, the sound shaking the entire passageway. Not a moment later, green and yellow light shines through the lower doorway to illuminate the group.

Azlyn grimaces. “On the other hand…”

**KH-KH-KH**

A long white staircase stretches upwards in the open air, wrapping around a thick central column. The strange mist is behind them, falling from just below the high tower. Steeling themselves, Sora and his compatriots slowly ascend the steps.

Up here the aching hum of the Organization’s broken Kingdom Hearts is louder, more present. It resonates within each of the heroes, pulsing in time to their heartbeats.

Xemnas stands before Kingdom Hearts, his hands raised to the sky like he’s about to fall to his knees in worship.

“Oh, my Kingdom Hearts,” the Nobody laments, his voice its standard dull monotone. “You have been damaged by these meddling fools, your power diminished. Once again, you require hearts.” Lowering his arms, Organization XIII’s Superior turns to the heroes. “Wielders of the Keyblade, you must gather more hearts!”

“NO!” Mickey, Riku, and Sora simultaneously exclaim, weapons blazing into their hands in columns of light. It takes Kairi a moment to get the gist, but with a determined frown she calls her weapon to hand as well.

“Why must you hate me so?” Xemnas sighs, the barest hints of actual sincerity dripping into his voice. “Why must you hate _all_ who teeter on the edge of nothing? Neither Light nor Dark would accept us, leaving this emptiness as our fate. I and my Organization merely wished to fil that void. Is that such an ignoble goal?”

“Not when it involves Heartless feeding frenzies across the universe,” Azlyn quips in reply. “Or, hey, any of the times your flunkies have tried to kill us, personally.”

“Kidnapping’s a pretty low move, too,” Kairi adds.

“After a while, it does tend to create a natural hostility,” Telary chimes in.

Sora shakes his head, lowering the Keyblade. “I know you’re suffering, living without hearts. Roxas saw it, and I did too when Saïx faded. But just because _you’re_ hurting, that doesn’t give you a right to hurt others!”

“But all this is academic anyway, isn’t it?” Mickey declares, his Keyblade still raised for combat. “Whatever you told your flunkies, however you got them on board with this Kingdom Hearts scheme, in the end you’re no better than Xehanort’s Heartless! All you want is its power!”

Xemnas chuckles, the amused sound so foreign coming from the usually stoic man that it chills everyone present to the bone.

“Very good, Your Majesty,” the Superior admits, slightly inclining his head in acknowledgement. “The other Organization members imagined themselves superior, but in the end they were inspired by nothing more than what motivates any common Dusk. Each desired a heart to call their own, but what is one heart compared to _thousands_!”

Xemnas flings his arms back, levitating off the platform and into the air. The heroes gasp, rushing forward in a charge much too slow. The Nobody rises until he finally meets Kingdom Hearts, resting in the yawning gap in its center.

“Ansem the Foolish claimed that the heart’s true nature is unknowable, but not to me!” Xemnas practically screams, Kingdom Hearts beginning to shake and rattle in the sky. “Unlike those before me, I have seen the truth! Hearts are power! Whether that power be Darkness or Light, in the end it all amounts to the same!”

“What are we supposed to do?” Telary cries out, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. “He’s gonna…!”

“You are incomplete, Kingdom Hearts,” the clearly insane Nobody rants, no longer seeming interested in the beings below him. “I alone can truly understand such a feeling! But perhaps together, we two incompletes may form something whole. I beseech you, Kingdom Hearts, lend me your power so that we may both be complete!”

Azlyn hurls her shield upwards, but it barely gets within a hundred feet of Xemnas and his broken moon. Kairi tries an orb of Light, but it hardly comes any closer before shattering. It seems that now, Xemnas truly is unstoppable.

“Heart quivering with hatred, burning with rage,” Xemnas incants, screaming into the sky like the madman he is. “Join me, and together we shall make a new world! The only world worth existing in… A world of _Nothing_!”

Light, as pure and white as anything Kairi could muster, sheathes the Superior of the fallen Organization. It spreads out, brightening and intensifying until no one can stand to look at it. The heroes fall back, hands rising to shield their eyes. Even so protected, the illumination is intense.

It takes them all seconds before they realize it is once again safe to look. When Sora lowers his hands and opens his eyes, he sees that Xemnas is gone. Kingdom Hearts, still naught but a broken shell, floats alone in empty air.

“Where’d he go?” Kairi asks, eyes darting around as if the mad Nobody is likely to casually stroll up next to the group.

“Inside,” Mickey replies, lowering his dejected gaze to the floor. “I think he’s… _inside_ Kingdom Hearts.”

“Well, how are we supposed to get in?” Azlyn demands. “I recall a whole thing about seven Princesses. Well Your Majesty, we only got one!”

“You got behind the Door to Darkness,” Sora recalls. “How’d you manage that?”

Mickey sighs. “I never went inside the Kingdom Hearts the Heartless put together in the Dark Realm,” he explains. “I just had to get into the realm myself. And that wasn’t easy either! I had to hitch a ride on a world being consumed by Darkness and hope for the best!”

Telary stutters nonsensically for a moment. “Hang on, the Heartless _built_ that Kingdom Hearts? Like Xemnas did with this one?”

Mickey nods, sharp and to-the-point. “It was made out of harvested worlds’ hearts, though. Not peoples’.”

His young royal wizard drops his head in frustration. “Has anybody else reached the conclusion that our universe just makes _no_ sense?”

“That’s beside the point,” Sora cuts in, drawing all attention to him. “There’s gotta be a way in! There’s gotta be…”

Light swirls in the air, gathering in front of the broken moon. It comes together with a brilliant flash, shaping itself into a massive, towering door. The design is familiar, two white halves with colorful stained glass across the arch.

“Though I did before, now I _gotta_ say I’m with Telary on the ‘no sense’ thing,” Azlyn sighs. “What the hell is this now?”

“Door,” Sora says, trying not to smirk.

“The worlds,” Mickey breathes, taking a slow step forward. “Just like they prepared paths for you to travel, they’ve given us this door, it has to be! They know the threat Xemnas poses, and they want us to stop him!”

“Ya know what,” Telary sighs. “I’ll take it!”

“We’re coming for you, Xemnas!” Sora declares, loud and proud.

“This is it Sora,” Riku cautions his young friend. “Once we’re step through, there’s no turning back. There’s no telling what could happen, so this may be our last chance for…”

“We’re gonna get married!” Azlyn suddenly blurts, apropos of nothing. Jaws drop as her companions turn to stare at the knight, none more than Telary’s.

“Huh?” Sora blurts.

Offered another silent moment, Azlyn looks around before speaking. “Yeah. Uh, well, the thing is…”

**KH-KH-KH**

_“Sora!” Azlyn cries out into the night, gaze darting everywhere she can think of to look. It’s not easy, this being a fairly sprawling city with many, many nooks, crannies, and alleys to hide in. “No sign of him. He just ran off.”_

_Telary sighs, leaning against the wall of a skyscraper. “I’m sure he just got lost. You nearly left him behind anyway, rushing after the king like you did.”_

_Azlyn lets out a breath and shrugs, leaning against a building. “Yeah, I did didn’t I?” She huffs once. “I just hate how he’s always running off somewhere. And now, hey, Sora’s gone missing too!”_

_Telary walks over to her side, laying a hand on his girl’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll find Sora soon, okay? Maybe we should just stay here until he comes back this way.”_

_Azlyn nods appreciatively, sinking to the ground. “Good idea. You have so many good ideas, Tel.” She gives him a smile, sweet instead of seductive. “It’s nice to have you around.”_

_The wizard shrugs, taking a seat next to her. “I like having you around too.”_

_“You’re always around when I need you, right here by my side,” the knight continues praising, her head dropping onto his shoulder. “Even with all the chaos going on around us, there you are.” She sighs. “Sometimes it’s like you’re really the only person or thing I can rely on.”_

_Telary turns his head to kiss her cheek. “And I always want to be, Azlyn.”_

_Her head lifts from his shoulder, eyes giving him a look he can’t decipher. “Is that a fact, Tel?” At this point she stands, backing up so he’s looking down at him. “Always?”_

_“Always.” The wizard replies easily._

_“Forever?”_

_Now, Telary can’t help but hesitate. Just a slight amount. “Uh, yeah. Forever.”_

_Azlyn nods. “Okay.” She pauses, turning away. That lasts for all of two seconds before she’s spinning around again, boldly declaring, “Then let’s get married.”_

_Taken by shock and surprise, Tel’s head snaps back into the concrete wall supporting it. It hurts, but that minor pain is_ so _not the wizard’s focus at the moment. “What?”_

_Azlyn nods a few times, becoming seemingly more confident with each one. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get married, as soon as this Organization XIII mess is dealt with.”_

_Telary stands, approaching his girlfriend (should it be fiancé?) as if she’s a wild animal ready to pounce. “Azlyn, what are you saying? I, I know we just had that really nice moment, and I meant every word but…”_

_The knight gives her man a hard, daring look. “But what?” she asks plainly. “Give me some reasons, Tel._

_He’s in no way prepared for an argument at this moment, but he ventures on the best he knows how. “We’re, uh, we’re so young!”_

_Azlyn only snorts at that, hands resting indignantly on her hips. “Tel, after all the shit we’ve been through I feel like I’m a hundred years old. We’ve faced life and death situations more times than I can count. More than you can count probably. We’ve been to the edge and back.”_

_It’s hard to argue with that. “Okay, I guess you’re right. But, y’know, the future is…”_

_“The future is what it’s going to be, whether we’re married or not,” Azlyn interrupts, tone strong but tender. She steps toward Telary, and he can’t find it in him to move back. “And whatever happens, I know it’ll be better if I’m your wife and you’re my husband.”_

_“How do we know if…”_

_She takes his hands gently in hers, gazing into his eyes. “Nobody knows me better than you, Tel. And I’d bet every munny piece I’ve ever seen that you’d say the same about me.” Her countenance gets a touch mischievous. “And if you think about it, we’ve been living together on the Gummi ship for a while now.”_

_Telary swallows hard, wracking his brain for anything he can say. “But, but let’s be practical…”_

_“What, are you worried about a job? Telary, you’ve got one hell of a secure position as Disney Castle wizard, and at this point they couldn’t keep me out of the Royal Guard with a moat. We’re as stable as can be on that front.”_

_Telary opens his mouth, but no words come out._

_“Worried about where we live?” she continues. “In the castle for a while, then when we’ve saved up we can move out to our own place in Mouseburg.”_

_At this point, the wizard is only capable of sputtering. “You, you’re already making plans like that? You never make plans!”_

_Azlyn shrugs. “‘Til now there’s nothing I thought was worth planning for.” She lets go of his hands, instead wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Looking into his eyes, she says, “But you like plans, so here I am making one so you’ll understand how serious I am.”_

_This close, Telary can see the tears in her eyes, sincerity shining through them._

_“I want to marry you Telary,” she says, as simple a statement as she can make “Do you want to marry me?”_

_Silence reins in the dark city, Telary just looking into the eyes of the woman he loves. The one he’s_ always _loved._

_“Yes, I do.” The words are quiet, and Azlyn’s face lights up in a smile as soon as she hears them. “I freaked out a moment there, bu then I realized something. The feeling I had when you asked me, when you said you wanted to get married… It was almost the same thing I felt when we took off on the Gummi ship. I’m still scared, worried about what the future holds, but…” His speech stutters, the young man taking a single, shaky breath. “But your heart has a remarkable ability to steer you in the right direction, no matter what anyone might say. And if it’s steering you to me, to this union between you and I… then I trust it, and you. I trust you with everything I am, Azlyn. And I know you won’t let me down.”_

_Telary gently grabs Azlyn’s arms, pulling them down from around his neck. Freed up to move, he drops down to one knee._

_“I know I don’t have a ring, but…”_

_Azlyn laughs out loud, the most beautiful sound Telary’s ever heard. “Tel, I wouldn’t care if you gave me a ring you won in a claw machine. As long as it’s from you.”_

_He nods, tears swimming in his eyes and making it hard to see. “Anyway…” He takes her hands. “Azlyn, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”_

_“Yes, Telary,” she says, barely breathing the words out. “A million times, yes.”_

_Azlyn slips her hands out of her fiancé’s grasp, grabbing his forearms and pulling the wizard back to his feet. After a brief moment to look into the eyes of the man she loves, the two come together in what they’ll both easily agree is their best kiss ever._

**KH-KH-KH**

Nobody says anything after the Disney Castle pair are done relating their story. It hadn’t been an easy tale to follow, coming out in stutters and stammers, mixed between the two lovers’ mouths. But in the end, everyone gets the gist.

“Uh, well,” Azlyn says after a moment that seems paused. “Anybody gonna say anything?”

“Why didn’t you tell me the _second_ I saw you again!” Sora blurts once he’s sure no one else is going to step up. “Or when I asked on the stairs?”

Telary laughs sheepishly. His eyes haven’t left the face of Mickey Mouse, the small king’s mouth dangling open in a way the wizard has never seen before.

“Well,” the wizard explains, “we kinda just wanted to tell everybody once, at once. Y’know?” His gaze slides to Azlyn, slight disapproval evident. “In fact, I was pretty sure we were waiting until _after_ this entire thing got sorted out.”

Azlyn shrugs. “Hey, blame Riku! He’s the one who was all ‘this is it Sora my man, final battle coming up. Now or never dudebro’!”

“Hey!” Riku objects. “I do _not_ sound like that!”

“I don’t care whether it was planned or not!” Kairi exclaims, excitedly clapping her hands together. “I’m way too _happy_ for that!”

She rushes forward, grabbing the couple in both arms and pulling them into a hug. After a moment, Sora sighs and joins in.

They embrace for a long minute (during quite a bit of which Sora is trying his hardest to get Riku to jump in, an effort that fails spectacularly), before pulling back. Looking down at Mickey, the mouse who had taken them from their home and raised them as his own, the couple just wait.

“Uh, Your Majesty…?” Azlyn starts, only to be stopped when the king raises his hand. Her mouth instantly snaps shut.

“There’ll be none of that anymore, Azlyn,” the king declares, causing only more confusing. All tension, however, is completely lost once he grins. “Anybody I’m gonna give away at their wedding gets to call me Mickey.”

Azlyn and Telary let out cries of joy, falling to their knees and pulling Mickey into an embrace.

Sora watches the scene, surreptitiously swiping away a few tears. This is it, he decides. Xemnas is a threat to existence, all the worlds he has visited, every friend he’s made. But that seems so far away, hard to focus on.

This right here is what he’s fighting for. A universe where two people can fall in love and pledge themselves to each other for eternity. If Xemnas has his way, such a heartfelt and steadfast love would not be allowed to exist. And to Sora, _that_ is the ultimate in unacceptability.

“That’s why I’m ending this _my_ way,” Sora declares privately, his ears the only ones hearing the words. “I hope you’re ready Xemnas, ‘cause here we come!”


	49. Nothing And Everything

“Okay, Kairi,” Sora says, looking at the redhead standing across from him, “just follow our lead here. Ready?”

“Ready,” Riku says from his position on Sora’s left.

“Ready,” Mickey parrots, standing next to Riku with his golden Keyblade drawn.

Kairi takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing for a short moment. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.”

Concentrating, the four wielders draw upon the power of their blades. Pointing them into the middle of the circle so all their tips connect, they begin summoning the weapons’ unique powers of unlocking. Light gathers where the blades meet, and slowly the quartet raise them to the sky.

Every Keyblade takes a bit of the shared power, orbs of white Light surrounding the tip of each. Once pointed straight up, the powerful lights concentrate into beams, shooting into the night sky.

The massive door reacts to the presence and power of the four beams, slowly creaking open. What lies beyond is impossible to discern, covered in a shimmering curtain of energy.

“Well, it’s open now,” Azlyn says, stepping forward casually. “So, how are we supposed to get inside?”

As if in answer, a shining bridge of blue energy stretches out from the door’s entrance to the edge of the tower. Sora puts a foot on it just to test, but its similarity to the bridge into the castle has him confident in its solidity.

“Now, everyone remember to be careful,” Mickey cautions the group as they slowly make their way up the shimmering ramp. “Xemnas is gonna have power in there like you wouldn’t believe.”

“The power of Kingdom Hearts,” Telary moans, eyes resolutely upward and _not_ on the huge drop beneath his feet.

“True,” Riku agrees. “But I’ve traveled pretty extensively between realms, and one thing I learned is that things aren’t always the same from one to the next. Who knows what _we’ll_ be able to do once we’re inside.”

Passing through the bright curtain at the door’s threshold is like walking through a Destiny Islands waterfall. One moment Sora is hundreds of feet above the city, a stiff breeze blowing his clothes and hair. The next, the sound and sensation of wind ceases, and he’s in another world entirely.

At first glance it looks like a plaza in the Dark City, black asphalt surrounded by high buildings. But white lines glow everywhere, running through the ground and up and down the surrounding buildings. The sky has become a hazy curtain of red and purple smudges that instantly remind the Keybearer of Gummi space.

Sora _feels_ different in this place too, like something is buzzing just beneath his skin. It’s like the opposite of the Betwixt and Between’s effect on him, empowering rather than corrupting.

There’s one exit out of the plaza, black buildings bending down over it to form an archway. In front of the path out stands Xemnas. Seeing the group, a smile comes to his face. Unlike the Nobody’s other attempts, this seems genuine.

Which only makes it all the more terrifying.

“So,” he says, voice echoing like that of a god on high, “this is what you have chosen.”

“We choose to stop you!” Sora retorts, Keyblade in hand. Behind him, he can hear the others draw their weapons as well.

Xemnas nods. “Your hearts have led you to oblivion.” His smile becomes a cruel, arrogant smirk. “I suppose it doesn’t pay to be too loyal to one’s heart. I shall have to remember that.”

Sora rushes the Nobody, the rest of his posse following behind him. Xemnas only smirks, leaping forward with a blade of red laser-light extending from his right hand. He somersaults midair, bringing the blade down on Sora.

The Keybearer raises his weapon to block, smoothly deflecting the blow. With a push, he sends Xemnas back a few feet. The Nobody hardly seems to mind, smoothly landing on his feet and raising his free left hand.

Cries ring out from behind Sora, and he turns to see his companions all skid to a stop before a huge rectangular barrier of crackling energy. Grunting, Riku and Kairi make swipes at it.

Sora doesn’t’ see what results from their efforts, as once again Xemnas is charging at him with all speed. Kingdom Key comes up to block the Superior’s sword, turning it aside. A flash of red on his left side has Sora reversing, batting away another strike. The Keybearer skips back a foot, noting that Xemnas now wields two red laser-swords, one in each hand.

That barely has time to register before the Nobody is charging again, whipping both swords at his opponent. Sora quickly blocks each strike, but he’s forced to give ground each time.

He takes another step back to avoid a swing, his flank coming into contact with something solid. Suddenly he feels energy coursing through him, seeming to burn him from the inside. Xemnas must have set up a barrier behind him.

Organization XIII’s former Superior charges, right-handed blade raised to cut Sora in half. It doesn’t reach the boy, Riku suddenly flying in with a shield raised. Xemnas’s blade bounces off it, and the Nobody steps back in surprise.

Azlyn is there to meet him, flying in with a kick into his side that sends the deranged Nobody rolling along the ground. He rises again several yards away, lips twisted into a dark scowl.

Rage turns into shock as King Mickey jumps behind him, slashing his golden Keyblade into Xemnas’s back. The Nobody cries out in rage and pain, falling to his knees before fading out into thin air.

Everyone relaxes, smiling at their victory. Except Riku and Mickey, who both look dismayed and puzzled.

“There’s no way that was it,” Riku declares with a vigorous shake of his head. “Too easy.”

Mickey nods in agreement.

“Perceptive as always, Riku,” Xemnas says mockingly. Everyone turns towards the sound of the madman’s voice. Once again he’s standing calmly near the plaza’s exit. “I’m afraid that such paltry attempts won’t be enough to defeat me now. Not with the rage of thousands of hearts to fuel my power.”

“Copies or not, you don’t look so tough!” Azlyn yells, angrily stepping forward.

Xemnas only shrugs. “Perhaps. But, looks can be deceiving.”

The Nobody raises his hand, and a shadow falls over the plaza. Looking up, everyone gasps to see the blocky black column of a skyscraper, falling quickly towards them. Naturally they all run, fleeing the descending concrete block. Xemnas watches it without moving from his vantage point, amusement in his cruel golden eyes.

Sora just manages to get clear as the skyscraper hits, cracking and bursting into dozens of huge chunks that all fall to the ground. After a moment, the stone fades as if it were never there.

“I guess he’s getting used to those power fast,” Azlyn remarks.

Kairi shakes her head. “I don’t think so. Look!”

Everyone raises their eyes to the sky, watching with awe as the swirl of red and purple in the sky seems to flicker, patches twitching into black abyss. The scenery closer to the ground reacts to, the black buildings twisting like reeds in the wind. After a moment, they settle down.

“What was that about?” Telary asks.

“I think it means that Xemnas isn’t used to controlling the power of Kingdom Hearts yet,” Mickey explains. “I _thought_ I saw somethin’ funny going on when the copy put up that second barrier behind Sora.”

The mouse king falls silent a moment, eyes darting back and forth in their sockets as he ponders something. With a nod of his head, he rushes forward into the small corridor beneath the archway. After a moment of hesitation, the rest of the group follows.

When they emerge on the other side of the black tunnel, a black asphalt street stretches two miles into the abyss of red and purple. Blocky black rectangles continue on either side of it for a few hundred feet, then fall away to leave nothing but the void beyond.

At the end of the street, a white tower with an uncanny resemblance to the Castle That Never Was juts into the sky. A black Nobody symbol proudly decorates its front.

“What’s with that?” Sora asks.

“Xemnas is gonna need time to consolidate his new power,” Mickey explains quickly. “And I’m betting that if he’s doing that, he ain’t gonna be good for much else.”

“So you think he’s in that tower?” Kairi asks. “Gathering up his energy so he can use it properly.”

“Once he knows how to work with all this power…” Telary says, shaking his head as he thinks through the implications.

“So, we gotta get there,” Azlyn states, nodding once. “Doesn’t seem too hard. As long as we don’t get any more buildings thrown at us.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Riku disagrees. “That Xemnas back there may have just been a copy, but he was almost as dangerous as the real thing. And there could be more.”

“Not if we take Xemnas himself out,” Sora declares, eyes hardening with determination. “C’mon, let’s hurry!”

The six of them rush off down the massive street, laser-focused on the tower ahead. Perhaps too focused, as all of them ignore the ground’s slight trembling.

Except for Telary, who’s about to say something when the small tremors turn huge, and massive skyscraper springs from the ground a few hundred feet away. Then another one closer to the group, followed be a third, a fourth emerging in short order.

“Uh…” Kairi tries to point out, unsure of the exact words to use at the moment.

“I see it!” Sora confidently declares, his words almost lost beneath a fifth rising building only about a dozen feet from him. Gripping the Kingdom Key tight and hoping he’s right about this, the boy leaps forward with his blade drawn back.

Encountering the first building, he slashes out and _through,_ leaving a gaping hole in the skyscraper. Everyone else stops in their tracks, watching through the hole as Sora cuts through the second building, then the third.

Finally Sora breaks through the last building, landing on his feet and skidding into a crouch. Behind him, the buildings fall into chunks that disappear before reaching the ground. Grinning like a loon, he turns to face his oncoming friends.

“What in the holy flying shit was that about?” Azlyn boisterously exclaims, gesturing emptily to where five skyscrapers _used_ to be. Mickey and Telary don’t even admonish her for the harsh language, merely staring at Sora in disbelief.

“Riku said things might work differently in here,” Sora explains, trying his hardest not to shrug. He taps his chest with a finger. “In this place, the power’s in here. Tell me you guys feel it too?”

Everyone pauses, examining themselves from within. Sure enough, they each feel something there, now that they’re looking with their hearts.

“But what about Xemnas’s power?” Kairi asks, looking around with the unspoken question of whether or not anyone bothered to check the sky.

“Flickers, definitely,” Mickey reports, Telary nodding along to confirm. “But not as many, and smaller ones. Time’s runnin’ out fellas.”

“Next skyscraper’s on me!” Azlyn cheerfully exclaims, rushing ahead.

The white tower’s entrance, a massive set of double doors with a black Nobody symbol emblazoned on it, lies across a sunken circular plaza. A few feet in front of the stairs leading down, small Creeper Nobodies seem to ooze up from the floor like Shadows. The extremely lesser Nobodies are a minor nuisance, but potentially a costly one.

Sora cuts through the pair that first leap at him, kicking another one away before making a single jump down the half-dozen stairs into the pit. Dusks spring up to meet him there, but those he decapitates.

The others make their way down the stairs after him, Riku leading the charge as they fight off the silver and white creatures surrounding them on all sides. Azlyn brings up the rear, her shield and kicks making sure no Creepers have a chance to dive at anyone’s back.

Sora dodges a Samurai’s sword, runs it through, then ducks around an Assassin to reach the tower’s door. There’s no handle, and for a moment he isn’t sure what to do next.

The others maintain their tight formation, driving away the Nobodies to clear a path. Seeing Sora’s momentary pause, Riku breaks from the group to help him, Kairi easily rotating into his spot at the front.

Grunting fiercely, Riku brings Way to Dawn down on the doors, shattering a thin layer of energy barrier with the blow. He pushes at the metal entryway, only to get a shock for his trouble.

“Still strong,” he mutters, shaking his hand. Behind him, the others have caught up, reformatting from a wedge to a wall. “Must be more layers.”

“One thing to do, then,” Sora says with his trademark grin, demonstratively raising Kingdom Key. Yelling, he bashes the blade into the barrier. More protective layers shatter with the strike’s force.

While the boys bash away, Kairi, Mickey, Azlyn, and Telary hold the line. Luckily for the quartet, it only seems to be small fry Nobodies, Creepers and Dusks with the occasional Assassin or Samurai mixed in.

Kairi knocks a Samurai far back with a two-handed swing, quickly pivoting and relocating her Keyblade to block another Samurai’s thin blade. Grunting, she pushes that blade off hers, then runs the creature through.

Telary, empowered by the surge of energy in his heart, isn’t pulling any punches with spells. Orbs of fire as big as Mickey rocket forward from his staff’s tip, and massive Blizzaga spells freeze three Nobodies at a time.

Mickey struggles a bit, his style better suited to mobility than acting as a protective wall. But he still does his best, golden Keyblade swinging so fast through the air it leaves afterimages in its wake.

Azlyn’s shield blocks strike after strike, mostly just holding enemies until Mickey can get to them. When one Gambler comes diving in, she kicks its shin to send the creature to the ground. Batting away a Sniper’s crystal bullet, she stomps down on the fallen Gambler’s head hard enough to crush it into the pavement.

A blow from Riku shatters the doorway’s last layer of protection, and the silver-haired young man smiles in triumph. He looks to see if Sora’s wearing a similar expression, and is caught off guard as the right door suddenly bursts open with enough force to send him flying back.

Xemnas bursts through the door, light-blades swinging for Sora. The Keybearer blocks both on his Keyblade’s shaft, pushing the hooded copy away. With the Nobody off-balance, he pursues.

Two strikes go for Xemnas’s torso, easily blocked. The third goes low, but it’s a feint and his next hits high, smashing into the counterfeit Superior’s nose with enough force to make it fade out.

There’s no visible reaction from the sky above. Xemnas, the real Xemnas, is close to fully consolidating himself.

“We have to get inside!” the boy calls to his companions, still holding against the Nobody tide.

“Can’t now,” Riku grunts, rising and absentmindedly bisecting an Assassin. “Bottleneck.”

“Go!” Mickey calls out, shooting out a Pearl spell that knocks away three Dusks and a Creeper. “I can hold them here!”

“Your Majesty!” Azlyn yelps, not sounding pleased with that notion at all.

“I’ll stay with him,” Kairi resolutely declares, cutting through a charging Dusk.

“Kairi…!” Sora, Riku, and Telary all protest at once.

“He needs it!” the Princess of Heart argues. “Besides, it’s even _more_ dangerous for _everybody_ if Xemnas gets his act together!”

The Nobodies are hanging back now, gathering strength for another push. The moment’s rest won’t last long, but it is a relief.

“I’ll stay with you too,” Telary offers.

Kairi shakes her head. “Sora’s gonna need you, Azlyn, and Riku in there with him. Mickey and I can make sure you have the chance.”

“Kairi…” Sora says, stepping towards the girl with an outstretched hand. He almost reaches her when _Telary’s_ hand clamps around his wrist.

“She’s right, Sora,” the wizard says, surety and finality in his voice. Turning away, he quickly releases Sora’s hand and summons a coconut-sized blue fireball, hurling it into the gathering Nobody line. It explodes, decimating several creatures and breaking up the whole group’s cohesion. “Okay, let’s hurry!”

The quartet race into the tower, Sora sparing one last glance toward Kairi. She looks back at him, grinning. With that last look burned in Sora’s mind, the doors slam shut.

The interior of the white tower is deceptively huge, reminding Telary of Yen Sid’s mysterious haven. Also like that place, staircases seem to float midair at random, an entrance and exit portal at each end.

Sora barely wastes any time observing the spectacle, rushing up the first set of stairs and into the portal waiting there. Charging out, he looks down to see that the ground is easily a hundred feet below him. That second is all he spares, reaching the portal at the stairs’ end just as Riku, Azlyn, and Telary come running through the entrance.

The Keybearer runs on and on, moving from one floating staircase to the next. He doesn’t bother stopping to check, to get his bearings. He just keeps going, mindful of Kairi and Mickey facing the Nobody’s outside.

Then, after running up what must be the hundredth disembodied stairway, he’s right back at the tower’s bottom. He skids to a stop, looking around incredulously.

The others emerge behind him, all equally bewildered.

“Great, a maze,” Azlyn groans. “How are we supposed to get to Xemnas?”

“Maybe another route?” Telary suggests feebly. “We could try to, um, jump from one staircase to another, not use the portals…”

“What if there _is_ no way to Xemnas?” Sora posits, his voice full of quiet horror. He turns to his friends with a disturbed look. “Maybe he’s already gotten too powerful to beat. He could’ve already…”

“Sora,” Riku says firmly, clamping one hand on his young friend’s shoulder. “You can’t give up now. There’s gotta be a way.”

“Besides,” Azlyn chimes in, “if Xemnas had gone all ‘phenomenal cosmic powers, a _whole_ lotta livin’ space’, for sure he’d have already wasted us by now.”

“There has to be a solution,” Telary adds, nodding his encouragement. “If we just think about it a second, that could be the key to…”

“Yes!” Sora exclaims, smacking himself on the forehead. “Genius, Telary!”

Before the wizard can even ask _why_ he’s a genius, Sora has Kingdom Key pointing at the portal at the top of the first floor stairs. A beam of light shoots from the blade to the doorway, breaking up and covering the square entrance in white. Still grinning, Sora rushes in.

For a second, he thinks he was wrong, and he’s back in the entryway. The room is similar, just a circular floor surrounded by walls of white. But there’s one, obvious difference.

At the other end of the room, seated on a white marble throne, is a huge suit of armor. It gleams silver in the eerie light shining from above, a massive suit of iron armor covered in Nobody sigils. Three gold spikes, a kind of deadly makeshift crown, top the helmeted head, Xemnas’s true form completely covered in metal.

“That must be where he’s getting himself ready,” Sora says, stepping forward. The Keyblade is gripped in both hands, raised to block a torso attack.

“Looks pretty safe in there,” Azlyn notes, something like mirth sneaking into her voice. “Not for long though…”

The knight is cut off by a sudden sound, the sharp _click_ of guns being cocked. Looking up, the group barely have time to register Xigbar’s crossbow pistols hovering in midair on either side of Xemnas’s throne. By the time everyone does, they’re already firing.

Azlyn raises her shield to block, while Riku and Sora dive left to avoid the line of sharp crystals. The right gun swivels to face them, firing again. Sora bats away three bullets, but one gets past him and shatters on his sleeve.

Riku fires off a dark fireball, but one of Xemnas’s trademark barriers flashes into existence in front of the seated armor. The silver-haired Keybearer’s spell shatters against the wall.

Telary has a fireball of his own ready, but instead of aiming for Xemnas, he goes for the lefthand pistol. The spell lands, scorching the gun into melted metal. Picking up on the wizard’s strategy, Riku cooks the righthand gun before it can get off any more shots.

But the Superior isn’t done defending himself. Claymores fly forward like saws, cutting through the air with a shrieking whir.

Azlyn pivots and throws, her shield neatly intercepting the closest claymore and pushing it into the other. Both blades, and the shield, uselessly fly into the room’s wall and bounce off.

Sora moves on the resting Xemnas, noting that his posture is improving, sitting up straighter in his throne. Consolidating his power.

Water clones shaped like quarter notes whip out at the Keybearer, but he beats them into puddles with a contemptuous swing. Razor sharp playing cards fly as fast as Xigbar’s bullets, but fire spells from Riku and Telary deflect them. One of Xaldin’s lances stabs out, but Sora ducks it, then moves quickly way from the follow-up. Xemnas is only steps away now.

Close enough, Sora strikes. But a sparking wall intercepts the blow. Grunting, the boy tries again, minute cracks spreading out from the impact point. With a yell he attacks, more cracks spidering out while the extant ones widen and elongate. With one last blow, he shatters the barrier.

Xemnas sits before him, out of weapons and tactics. Sora chops downward, but the armor is thicker than the energy shield. It holds against Kingdom Key, showing no signs of weakness. And if the hair rising on the back of Sora’s neck is any indication, the Nobody has almost reached full power. But he can’t break through, Xemnas safely locked inside…

Ah, that’s just it.

Smirking, Sora leaps back, powering gathering at the tip of his blade. All out of witty banter and frustration, the boy is silent as a thin white beam slams into the Nobody symbol displayed prominently on Xemnas’s breastplate.

The segments of armor begin to separate, tiny cracks sounding as the each piece unlocks from the next. Light, pure and white, radiates from every opening.

“No!” Xemnas cries out in anguish and alarm. “No, I… This can’t be… I… **GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHH**!!!”

The Light continues to shine out, and Sora’s vision is taken by it. For a moment all is white. Then, it fades out to black.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Sora?”

That voice is the first thing Sora hears, although his vision remains blacked out. He nearly freaks out, before realizing that he merely has his eyes closed.

“C’mon, you can’t stay like that forever!”

And suddenly, Sora’s eyes shoot open. He recognizes that voice. He’d know it from anywhere.

Kairi stands above him, Azlyn and Telary huddled behind her. All three look down at the boy, smiling widely.

“Huh?” Sora says dumbly, slowly sitting himself up. At first he feels too stiff, his limbs locked up. But then a warm hand presses on his back, and he can rise.

They’re back at the Altar of Naught. Riku and Mickey stand off to the side, both happy to see him awake.

But before Sora can get any more reaction than that, there are arms around his neck. Strands of red hair drift into his vision, and since he can see Telary standing a few feet away, this must be…

“Kairi,” Sora breathes, reaching out to hold the girl back. They stay locked in an embrace for several long minutes, the Keybearer just closing his eyes and taking this all in. “This is real…”

“Okay, c’mon,” Azlyn grumbles.

Sora and Kairi separate, each blushing.

“You know, Sora,” the knight continues haughtily, “if I were a petty, insecure person, I’d make you _pay_ for rubbing your new happy relationship in my face.”

“Good thing you’re so understanding then,” the Keybearer laughs, allowing Telary to help him to his feet.

“Gosh,” Mickey says, stepping towards the teens (and Telary) with a smile on his face. “You all did great!”

Everyone is smiling, exchanging congratulations and kudos. There’s a lot of hugging, but Sora only notices Riku. The silver-haired young man turns away from the celebration, stepping to the altar’s edge.

“A lot of what just happened was thanks to you,” Sora says, approaching his best friend with caution. “I probably won’t forget that, but if I do I guess you can remind me.”

Riku says nothing, only staring out into the emptiness.

Sora frowns. “You _are_ coming back with us, right?”

“I gave into the Darkness,” Riku replies, finally turning around. His expression is a strange mixture of downcast and panicked. “I probably drew the Heartless to the island when they destroyed our world. How can I face everybody after that?”

Sora thinks on it a moment.

“Like this,” the Keybearer declares, contorting his face into a hideous expression. His eyes bug out, his jaw partially dislocates, one ear wiggles, the works.

For the first time in a long while, Riku lets out a hearty, genuine laugh.

Azlyn notices, looking over at the Destiny Island boys with concern. “Well, if that ain’t sign of the apocalypse…”

Suddenly the entire platform rumbles and shakes, throwing everyone off balance. They manage to stay upright, but Kairi has to lean on Telary. The king falls a bit to the side, luckily intercepted by the wizard’s leg.

“I was _kidding_!” Azlyn yells up at the sky.

“We’ve gotta get outta here, quick!” Mickey exclaims, righting himself.

Riku nods, stepping forward. “Okay, I’ll open a portal.” The silver-haired young man extends his right hand, palm out.

Nothing happens. Riku stares at his hand.

“You don’t belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku,” Mickey says with a small smile at his old traveling companion.

“You _would_ lose your freaky Darkness powers right when it’s inconvenient for me!” Azlyn indignantly declares. Telary gives her an admonishing look.

“So, how _are_ we supposed to get out of here, Your Majesty?” the wizard inquires of his king. The small Keybearer just shrugs, out of answers.

Faintly, Sora hears the sound of shoes on metal. Turning his head, he sees that Kairi is facing the platform’s other end. Curious, he turns too.

A girl in a white dress stands there, blonde hair falling to her shoulders. Sora’s heart leaps at the sight of her, but he’s at a loss as to why. From the corner of his eye, he can see that Kairi is beaming.

The blonde girl says nothing, merely extends her hand. In a wink, the familiar black egg of a dark portal appears.

The others turn at the sound, hands on weapons. But when nothing emerges from the darkness, they relax just the slightest bit.

“Where’d that come from?” Azlyn asks, walking closer to the portal. Her eyes sweep it suspiciously. Sora swears her gaze passes the mysterious blonde, but the knight gives no sign of it.

“Dunno,” Mickey admits. “But it sure is convenient, eh?”

“Too convenient,” Azlyn declares, frowning at the dark energy. “How do we know if this thing is even…?”

Three loud barks sound into the night, and before anyone can react beyond a twitch, Pluto leaps from the dark portal. The retriever barrels into Azlyn’s chest, knocking the knight down to the altar’s floor.

“Pluto!” Mickey exclaims.

“Do you think _he_ opened it?” Telary asks, his voice taking on a nervous edge.

“You just live to make me suffer, don’t you?” Azlyn accuses the royal pooch, glaring at him intensely. Some of that intensity owes itself to affection, and there are tears in her eyes, but of course she’d never admit that.

“I say we go for it,” Mickey says, his voice sturdy and resolute. “I’ll even go first!”

“C’mon, Pluto, get off her,” Telary orders the retriever. “That’s my future wife you’re pouncing, ya know.”

Azlyn holds her hand out for Telary to help her up, but the wizard does her one better. Grinning, he takes her into his arms in a full-on bridal carry.

“Tel!” the girl protests, her cheeks flaming red.

“What?” he responds, shrugging. “Just getting in some practice! C’mon, guys!”

As Azlyn and Telary fade into the portal’s depths, Sora and Kairi step towards the strangely unnoted blonde.

“Thanks, Naminé,” Kairi says. Sora gasps, taken aback. This girl is the person Jiminy’s journal said to thank.

“Why couldn’t the others see you?” the Keybearer asks. “Were you invisible?”

Naminé shakes her head. “No, I just removed myself from their memories as they were making them. Wasn’t easy.” For a moment, she just stares at Sora with soft eyes. “Well, I told you we’d meet again.”

Sora is puzzled. Obviously they’d met before if he was supposed to thank her, but…

“You said we might not recognize each other,” answers a familiar male voice. Suddenly, Roxas simply steps out of Sora. The boy gasps, staring dumbly at his nearly translucent Nobody. “But I knew you right away.”

“Me too,” Naminé agrees with a giggle. “I always thought Nobodies were doomed to fade back into Darkness, but I guess that’s not true.”

“We found ourselves,” Roxas jokes with a thumb poked at Sora. “Now, we can be together again.”

“As long as Sora and Kairi are.”

Kairi turns to Sora with a smile. “We’ll be together _every_ day. Right?”

“Uh,” Sora replies awkwardly, caught off guard in a big way. “Sure we will.”

“Good enough for me,” Naminé declares. She holds out her hand, and Kairi takes it. Light surrounds the Nobody as her form fades out. A second later, an answering light covers Kairi.

Sora is dumbfounded by this until Roxas interrupts with a hearty, “Look sharp!”

The Keybearer gazes at his Nobody. Roxas closes his eyes, fading out in an aura of light. Warmth fills Sora’s body as the same aura surrounds him. Once Roxas is gone, the Destiny Islands boy quickly checks himself over.

“Don’t worry,” Riku says by his friend’s side. He’s giving his best reassuring smile. “You’re all still you.”

“Best way to be,” Kairi states with a smile. She walks into the portal. “Now c’mon, boys. We’re long overdue for a homecoming.”

Sora and Riku take steps forward, but before they can go further the platform shakes again. Both boys pause in alarm, and Kairi turns back in the portal.

“Sora!” she yells, stepping forward even as the portal collapses. “Riku!”

Abruptly, the portal, and Kairi, are gone.

“Where’d it go?” Sora demands of an answerless Riku. “Where’s Kairi?”

“I don’t know,” the silver-haired young man admits. “I don’t know how…”

“Allow me to provide an answer.”

Both Keybearer freeze, looking at each other in shock. Slowly, they turn to the voice’s origin.

Xemnas stands before them, glaring at the pair with pure, burning hatred. No longer the composed killer he once was, half of the Nobody’s face is covered in ugly black burns. His coat has changed too, now white with swirling black patterns.

Without another word, the Organization’s last survivor raises his hands. In front of him, right in the exact center of the platform, it seems reality begins to melt. The altar’s white glass liquidates, running into a hole in the ground that has white light glowing from it.

The heroes rush for Xemnas, but he only stares them down. Sora brings his foot down on melting floor, and suddenly he feels stuck, pulled into the deranged funnel.

Riku stops and grabs his friend’s arm, trying desperately to pull him out of the pit. But all that manages is to trap him too. Together, they fall into the light.

**KH-KH-KH**

The silver-white abyss surrounds them, strange vortexes swirling all about on the “walls” and “floor”. Nothingness twists even below them, but the Keybearers seem to stand on a transparent disc. Xemnas is floating across from them, once again cold and calculating.

“Heroes from the Realm of Light,” the Superior of a defunct Organization says in a pleasant tone, as if he’s run into the boys on a walk around town. “Welcome to _my_ realm. I may not have achieved the power of Kingdom Hearts, but here I rule!”

“What a nice place for a kingdom,” Sora quips, looking around with contempt.

“A final question,” Xemnas continues as if the boy hadn’t spoken. “Light and Darkness are eternal, yes? Then surely a Nothing such as I, must be eternal as well?”

“You’re right,” Riku answers confidently. “Light and darkness are eternal. And hey, Nothing probably goes on forever too.”

“But that doesn’t mean _you’re_ eternal!” Sora declares, Kingdom Key springing into his hand. He and Riku both drop into fighting stances.

Xemnas laughs, just as disturbing now as it had been before. “No more eternal than that radiance of yours.”

The Nobody moves impossibly fast, flashing into Sora’s space before the boy can blink. He grabs the Keybearer by his jacket, tossing him high into the air.

The acceleration robs Sora of anything that could be called his bearings, his stomach sickening as gravity takes hold. From the corner of his eye he can see a round white portal opening, black Nobody wisps flying out of it. Xemnas follows, red blades in hand.

Twisting his body, the Keybearer manages to block his opponent’s attack. He pushes Xemnas away, flips over, and lands neatly on the ground. Xemnas still floats above, thrusting his hands forward. Suddenly, the blades he holds shoot out.

Sora gasps as they spear towards him, but Riku dives in to intercept. Xemnas doesn’t seem to mind, fading out and reappearing closer to the ground a few feet away.

Sora and Riku rush forward, separating as more shafts of red energy fly at them. Sora deflects one, dodges another, and jumps at his opponent.

Xemnas is ready, reaching out a hand covered in an orb of crackling blue energy. With a monstrous roar, the Nobody shoots the orb forward, still tethered to his hand.

The energy hits Sora, and suddenly he can’t think, can’t focus on anything but the _intense_ pain surrounding his body. Within seconds, the boy is already beginning to believe it will never end.

But Riku will have none of that. The silver-haired boy leaps at Xemnas, his own hand reaching for the Nobody’s. The energy holding Sora is cut off, all of it instead blasting into Riku. But still he holds on, his other arm bringing Way to Dawn up for a cut.

He slashes downward, right into Xemnas’s chest. The Superior screams, breaking the lock and flinging his opponent away.

With a neat backflip, Riku lands at Sora’s side.

Screaming again, Xemnas raises his hand. Portals open all around him, each shooting dozens of black tendrils towards the heroic pair.

They both dodge, then dodge again as the strands sweep back around for a second chance. Now within striking distance, the Keybearers swing simultaneously at their insane enemy.

Xemnas flies back, rising into the air with a cruel sneer on his face. Darkness gathers in both gloved hands, and with an enraged growl he thrusts them upwards.

All around Riku and Sora, grey and silver and white are replaced with black, a void like a starless sky. And when the stars appear, they’re not the small white, twinkling things stars should be. A hundred thousand angry red points of deadly energy surround the heroes. Sora swears he hears another grunt from Xemnas, but there’s no time to process it.

The stars are falling down.

Operating on nothing but instinct, Sora and Riku swing their blades around to deflect the lasers. It seems an impossible task, dozens if not hundreds if not _thousands_ of deadly spears diving at them. But the boys press on, whirling and twirling. They strain to intercept each one, covering not only themselves, but each other. The black still surrounds them, but it hardly even seems dark now. Nothing but light, bright and red and deadly. Nothing but…

It stops, though whether that takes a minute or years Sora cannot say. He’s completely out of breath, pushed to his limits and then past them. But Xemnas is still there, and he’s got to…

A cry from Riku draws Sora’s attention to his right, but all he sees when his head swivels there is more red light. The blade rests just above his shoulder, perfectly positioned to decapitate him. Swallowing his fear, Sora turns to face Xemnas.

The Nobody’s face is perfectly still, but a horribly ugly madness shines in his golden eyes. It seems that the Superior has finally found emotion after all. Just not a good one. Not a good one at all.

Xemnas raises his arm, ready to strike Sora down for all time. But Riku will not allow it, diving in to save his best friend. He puts himself between the blade and Sora, Way to Dawn barely saving both their lives. With his free hand, the silver-haired young man pushes Sora back, out of range.

He’s mentally congratulating himself for keeping Sora safe when the blade in Xemnas’s _left_ hand slams into his side.

Surprisingly, the shaft of light doesn’t cut through his flesh, only strikes him like a steel baton. Electric pain spreads from the impact point, engulfing Riku’s entire world in nothing but sheer white _hurt_.

Hearing Riku’s cries engulf the entirety of Sora’s own world. Not in pain, but _rage_. Righteous anger, fueled by the love he has for his best friend, fills the Keybearer’s whole being, so full he fears he could overflow. Without a rational thought in his head, Sora charges.

Riku finally pushes through the intense pain, just in time to catch Sora leaping for Xemnas. Gritting his teeth, the silver-haired young man puts a plan into action.

“Sora!” he calls, letting go of his Keyblade as Sora passes by.

The brunette grabs Way to Dawn in his free hand, Kingdom Key reared back in the other. Yelling in rage, frustration, defiance, and even a little guilt, Sora strikes.

The first hit is Kingdom Key, a blow that would shatter ribs on any normal man. The next sweeps in from Way to Dawn, cutting through the Superior’s black and white coat.

Not anchored by gravity, Xemnas flies up into the air. His only indication of any feeling is a small grunt, and somehow that enrages Sora all the more. With another roar, the dual-wielding Keybearer leaps up and slams _both_ Keyblades into his opponent’s back.

Finally a real reaction is elicited, the Nobody crying out in pain and rage like Sora has never heard.

The boy lands, watching as Xemnas hurtles even high into the empty space of the gray void. He’s not getting away that easy.

“Riku,” Sora says simply, holding out his blade towards the silver-haired young man and trusting his best friend to know what to do. Riku _does_ know, placing his hand atop Sora’s at the hilt.

Reaching inside, both young men summon their power. Light runs along Kingdom Key’s shaft, shooting up in a beam easily twice as large as any they may have conjured alone.

It seems as if time has slowed, events moving at one-third speed. The beam of Light approaches Xemnas, and Sora can see as the Nobody’s face contorts. The Superior of nothing opens his mouth as if to ask for something. But before any request can be made, the beam slams into his chest, burns through the torso, and flies out the other side.

Xemnas doesn’t scream or cry, nothing but a choked off croak escaping his lips. The pain must be extreme. The beam of energy seems to hit a wall a few feet behind the Nobody, a swirling portal of Light opening where it stops. A powerful rush of air, a hungry vacuum, pulls what remains of Xemnas towards it.

He reaches out, as if there’s someone waiting to grab at his hand. But there’s no one there, nothing for him. His body, all that he has left to his name, disintegrates into black particles that are quickly sucked away. After a moment, the swirling portal disappears, leaving behind nothing.

Not so eternal after all, then.

 

“We did it Riku!” Sora shouts exuberantly, punching the air. “No more Nobodies for us!”

The older boy can only grimace at his best friend, staring cautiously into the void. “Uh, you might want to rethink that.”

Dusks emerge from the swirling pits, dozens from each. The creatures gather together and surround the pair, easily numbering in the hundreds. For Sora, it unfortunately calls to mind the army of Heartless back in Radiant Garden’s canyons.

“Well,” he says, dropping into his trademark fighting stance, “still, it shouldn’t be a problem, right? After Xemnas, this is easy!”

“Sure thing, Sora,” Riku replies with a smile, barely holding back a sigh. He draws back to fight, only to cry out. He falls to one knee, free hand clutching his side.

“Riku!” Sora cries, his head swinging down to look at his fallen companion. Seeing the state he’s in, the Keybearer frowns. “Riku, are you…?”

“I’m fine!’ the young man shouts back, hurtling up into a standing position. Secured on both feet now, he eases back into his combat posture. “It’s fine.”

Sora opens his mouth to say more, but the Nobodies attack before a single word can escape. The entire horde seems to come down at once, pressing the boys on all sides.

Just as he had against the Heartless pack, Sora lets himself give in to natural instinct. Thoughts and plans will only slow him down, and he knows Riku is thinking the same thing for himself.

The fight is long, grueling, and complicated by both Riku’s injuries and the Destiny Islanders’ fatigue. Even giving in completely to the flow of the battle barely serves to keep them both aware and alive against this massive attack.

Finally, after another eternity of combat, it ends. The last Dusk flashes out of existence in a burst of silver light. Once again, the void around Sora and Riku is empty and lifeless.

Sora relishes the chance to stop and take an actual deep breath, not merely as prelude to a powerful strike, but to calm himself.

“Aargh!” Riku groans, falling back to his knees. He bends over, clutching at his side. The young man’s face is contorted with agony. “Sora…”

“C’mon, Riku!” the boy encourages his downed friend.

“I don’t…” Riku shakes his head, flinching against his ongoing pain. “I don’t think I’m gonna make it. You’ll have to…”

Sora holds up a resolute hand, shaking his head. “Just stop right there, Riku. You’re not just gonna give up now, alright? Neither of us are. We’re gonna get outta here and find a way home!”

“How can you say that?”

Sora moves to get his shoulders under Riku’s arm, grunting as he lifts the older boy to his feet. It isn’t easy, but for his best friend, Sora can manage.

“Look where we are!” Riku continues, gesturing with his free hand. “Even if we could go on, where are we supposed to go on _to_?”

Sora shakes his head, taking the first steps forward. Despite his protests, Riku stumbles along after him.

“Man, Riku,” the younger Keybearer chuckles, shaking his head. “You really were hanging out alone in darkness too long. It’s got ya all mopey. C’mon, it’s better to think positive!”

Riku opens his mouth, a retort on the tip of his tongue. After a moment of thought, he quashes the remark. Sora’s right, yet again.

Noticing a small shake of his best friend’s head, Sora raises an eyebrow in his direction. “What is it?”

“I was just thinking…” the silver-haired Keybearer sighs. “You know, I always used to think I was better at stuff than you.”

“What stuff?”

The older Keyblade wielder shrugs. “Pretty much everything.” There’s a long pause after Riku’s admission, the pair still walking on in the void. “Are you, uh… are you mad about that?”

“Well,” Sora says, pausing for a quick chortle. “To be honest, I always figured you were better than me too. Wasn’t always fun, but I got used to it. It was something I could rely on, I guess.”

Riku’s about to say something else, but when he notices his best friend’s expression he pauses. Sora looks shocked and bewildered, staring straight ahead. Curious, the silver-haired young man swivels his gaze outward.

It seems as if part of the “wall” up ahead has just begun melting, forming a small portal that funnels in the silvery material that makes up this odd dimension. It looks similar to the others at first, but where they all maintain their size, this portal continues to grow. The light in its center grows too, warmer and brighter.

Sora and Riku exchange looks, and after a few moments the oldest of the pair nods his agreement. The younger makes for the ever-growing swirl of liquid reality, nodding to himself with each step.

They’ve picked up speed, Riku spurred on by the possible exit. It still pains him to move, but now that he has a goal it seems easier. Especially with Sora holding him up, steadily motivating him forward.

Without hesitation or fear, the boys enter the light at the end of the tunnel.

**KH-KH-KH**

They arrive on a beach at the edge of an ocean, the starless nighttime sky above making its sand look black. It seems like _everything_ is dark here: the sand, the water, the strange rock formations and boulders scattered around. Even the faraway moon, seemingly floating only inches above the water, appears dark despite its dim glow.

Despite the bleakness of it all, Sora can’t help but be calmed by what he hears. The sound of waves crashing against a shoreline, black sand or not, instantly brings home to his mind.

Feeling Riku shift over his supporting shoulders, Sora realizes that now he _has_ a little piece of home by his side, too.

After a contemplative moment, Sora realizes that Riku’s shifting is in service of a purpose. Namely, removing himself from Sora’s assistance.

“This is the end of the road,” he explains, Sora finally allowing him to stand on his own. “I think it’s okay for me to walk now. We’re at a good place.”

Sora isn’t so sure he can agree with that assessment. Despite Riku being with him, his heart pines for his home, and all the friends that must be waiting for him there.

The Keybearer finds himself slowly wandering closer to the beach, looking up and down the shore as he goes. Some part of him, Roxas he imagines, is familiar with this strange place. It’s not enough to comfort him entirely, but it eases some of the burden.

Suddenly, he feels the water against his shoes, hears the sound of it splashing and lapping. He looks out across the vast sea, silent and thoughtful. What was initially familiar now seems cruel, reminding him of the home it seems he’s lost again.

“Maybe it’s harder to be positive than I thought,” he quietly admits to himself. “Maybe the darkness is getting to me too. I guess I can’t just ignore it for…”

His lonely monologue is interrupted by a strangled cry behind him. Spinning on his heel, the spiky-haired boy gasps at the sight of Riku, fallen face down on the sand. Grimacing, he rushes for his friend.

“Ugh,” Riku grunts into the ground, pushing himself up with great effort. He hears Sora sliding to the ground next to him, can feel the younger boy’s empathetic gaze on him.

“Riku…”

“I’m fine,” he says, rising up to his knees. The small act takes a lot of energy, and for a moment he just stares out, catching his breath. “This place is perfect for me, you know. Maybe I should just accept that, and fade back into the dark…”

Sora can’t help but groan, quickly choking the sound off. “Riku, you…”

“After all, why are we afraid of the dark?” Riku continues. His tone reminds Sora of a time long ago, discussions on the existence of other worlds. “It isn’t the dark itself, not really. It’s just what’s hiding inside of it.”

Thinking on it, Sora can’t deny that dark powers did come in handy several times on this journey. Without Riku’s lurking, they might not have discovered the digital Twilight Town. And it was Axel’s portal that led to the Organization’s world. Perhaps, occasionally and in small doses, darkness has its uses.

“But the world is made of light _and_ dark, we can’t deny that.” Riku smiles, turning to Sora. “So maybe now, _we’ll_ be the darkness.”

Sora nods slowly, settling back on his haunches. “Yeah.” He looks out over the ocean, his earlier melancholy fading into acceptance. “The Realm of Light is safe now. Kairi and the king are there, them and Azlyn and Telary will always have each other… that’s all I need to know.”

“Sora, I need your help.”

The younger Keybearer turns to his friend. That certainly isn’t a request he hears often. “Whatever you need, Riku.”

“Help me down to the water.”

Sora obligingly nods, slinging Riku’s arm over his shoulder again and pushing both of them to their feet. Walking downhill to the shore proves easy, and in a minute they’re sitting at the very edge of the seemingly unending water. For a long, long time, neither of them says anything. Unknowingly, though, the same thought is on both of their minds.

At least the waves sound the same.

Their silence stretches on, broken only by the constant beat of water upon the shore. It isn’t uncomfortable, or awkward. Just two best friends, alone together after so much time spent apart.

“What I said…” Riku mumbles after a few minutes have passed. “About thinking I was better than you.”

“Riku, you don’t need to…”

“Even though I thought that… Well, I was always kind of jealous of you anyway.”

Sora almost flops onto his back, stunned. “Huh?”

The older boy shakes his head. “It was just… The way you were always able to live your life. You always seemed so easy and carefree. I wanted to be like that. To just follow my heart, like you did.”

A snort. “Yeah, well, it isn’t always so happy-go-lucky. I got my share of problems too, believe me.”

“Oh yeah?” Riku tilts his head, one eyebrow raised. “Like what, for example?”

The spiky-haired boy looks away for a moment, gathering courage before he looks back. “Well, I always wanted to be just like you. So cool and strong. It was like you had everything.”

“There is one advantage to being me.” Riku laughs, smirking. “Something you could never imitate, no matter how hard you tried.”

“What’s that?”

The smirk stretches out into a genuine smile as Riku looks at his best friend. “Having you as a friend.”

“Putting it that way,” Sora replies, “I figure I should count myself lucky too. After all, I’ve got something you could never have too.”

Silence returns, both boys leaning back to look up at the starless sky.

They stay quiet even longer this time, until Sora is lightly dozing with his eyes closed. Riku’s about to join him, when he feels an unexpected something tap at his shoe. It makes a tinkling noise. Glass then.

Upon feeling another tap, the silver-haired Keybearer looks down to find a glass bottle. Inside the bottle, safely waterproofed with a cork plug, is a rolled up piece of paper. A rather bizarre thing to find, especially in a dark realm.

Curiosity overwhelms Riku, and he leans down to pick the bottle up. He shakes it once, a reflexive urge he can’t quell. He’d always been scolded for shaking his wrapped presents at Christmastime.

The rolled up paper by itself holds no clues, so he decides that he might as well _un_ roll it. After all, who else is going to?

The cork comes out with a hollow _pop_ , and Riku turns over the bottle to shake its contents into his hand. After sparing a quick glance to Sora, who’s still sleeping soundly, he breaks the seal (a simple heart-shaped sticker) and unravels the paper.

It’s a note, written in neat and tidy handwriting. Familiar handwriting at that. He skims it quickly, pausing as he reaches the signed name at the end.

“Sora,” he says, nudging his half-conscious friend.

“C’mon, Tel, I just got to sleep,” Sora mumbles in reply. “Keep flying the ship, you and Azlyn can wait ten minutes.”

“SORA!”

This time Riku doesn’t pull his punches. Literally.

“Yargh!” Sora exclaims as he falls back onto the sand. A wave chooses that moment to swoop in, water splashing up into his face. He sits up and angrily swipes at his eyes.

Riku lets his best friend get himself together, but not without muttering a nigh-silent, “Gimme a break.”

“Sorry about that,” the Keybearer replies with a sheepish grin. “What is it, Riku?”

The silver-haired young man just holds out the letter. “For you.”

Puzzled, Sora takes the paper from Riku’s hand and begins to read.

**“** _Thinking of you, wherever you are…_

_We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish._

_And who knows, starting a new journey may not be so hard. Or maybe it’s already begun._

_There are many worlds, but they all share the same sky. One sky, one Destiny…”_

Every line causes Sora’s heart and soul, his entire being, to sing out with joy, but it isn’t until the end that he discovers why. He gasps, reading the name signed there.

“Kairi!” he proclaims, tears gathering in his eyes as his mouth widens into a warm, wonderful smile. “This is from…”

A light glows in the darkness. It grows and brightens, driving off the dark shore’s oppressive gloom. Riku stares at it in awe and wonder, but Sora is still focused on the note in his hand. Kairi’s note. Somehow, he knows it was written just for him.

“Sora,” Riku says, his voice sounding dim and distant in the young Keybearer’s ears. “I know you’re pretty engrossed in that letter there, but I really think you need to see this.”

Sora heeds his best friend’s words, tearing his eyes from Kairi’s signature and up into the air before his face. His jaw drops at the sight before him.

The light is no longer an indistinct point, a mere source of illumination. Instead it has formed itself into a tall rectangle, open and inviting. A door.

“The Door to Light,” Sora says, unconsciously tightening his fist around Kairi’s letter. “It… I…”

He springs to his feet, giddy and free as a child on the last day of school, summer awaiting him. The Door to Line shines in the air, and Sora swears he can feel his heart glowing right along with it.

“C’mon, Riku,” he announces to his seated friend, holding out a hand in offering. “It’s time to go home. We’ll go together.”

Riku nods, taking his best friend’s hand and relying on Sora’s strength to help him rise.

The boys walk forward, their feet scarcely skimming the water as they enter the doorway. White floods their vision, pure Light resonating in every part of their beings.

**KH-KH-KH**

Two meteors fall through a sunset sky. A nimbus of blue energy surrounds each, not heat from an atmospheric entry, but protection for its cargo. They plummet towards the ocean, landing with two splashes that project water high into the air.

Riku breaks first, always the strongest swimmer between him and Sora. The spiky-haired Keybearer pops up next, shaking water from his brunet hair. He clears his eyes with a swipe, a gorgeous orange sky greeting him as his sight clears. A sky he’d know anywhere.

“Sora!” Kairi’s voice calls, the sweetest sound Sora ever has or will hear. He pivots in the water, gasping at the sight before him.

Kairi stands on the shore of the trio’s childhood play island, grinning and waving like a madwoman. Sora opens his mouth to call back to her, but the words won’t come. That’s alright, though. This moment is too beautiful for mere words anyway.

The sound of arms splashing into water breaks the Keyblade wielder from his reverie. Sora follows suit, long vertical sweeps of his arms carrying forward.

Riku may be the stronger swimmer, but whatever’s powering Sora forward at the moment doesn’t care. He easily outpaces his best friend, heading for the shore he’s longed to see for what feels like a lifetime.

Finally his feet hit the soft, shifting ground. The swim turns into a run as he charges forward, only one thought on his mind…

Until he sees Azlyn and Telary. The Disney Castle pair rush into the water with bright, eager grins that easily match Sora’s.

Azlyn reaches him first, leaping nearly a foot out of the ocean to wrap her arms around him. The force of the impact of course knocks him off his feet, a great splash rising around him as he falls back into the shallow water.

“Azlyn!” Telary butts in, grabbing his fiancée’s arms and wrenching them apart, pushing her away from Sora. “Honestly, you’re gonna hurt him.”

Without further ado, the wizard drops to his knees and stares intently into his young friend’s face. He solemnly holds up three fingers, and Sora has to go cross-eyed to get a good look.

“How many?” Telary demands, shaking his hand for a moment.

“Huh?” is all the Keybearer can get out, rather too stunned to do much else.

But Telary doesn’t seem to understand that _he_ is in fact the cause of the shock, immediately reaching out and pulling Sora’s eyelids apart. He peers at the blue irises within, like he’s searching for gold. Sora vaguely hears laughing in the background, but is far too disoriented to focus on it.

“Tel!” Azlyn admonishes the redheaded wizard, rolling her eyes at his major overreaction.

The wizard immediately realizes that he’s going a bit far, letting out a nervous laugh and pulling back. “Uh, sorry Sora. It’s just… Well, I just…”

Sora doesn’t let him finish, unleashing a boisterous belly laugh and flinging his arms around the older man. Telary’s arms wrap around his torso, and within seconds Azlyn joins the embrace.

The trio laugh until they cry.

“Uh, guys?” Kairi’s voice suddenly cuts through. The Disney Castle pair pull back, allowing Sora to see her standing over him, an amused expression lighting up her angelic face. With the Destiny Islands’ sun streaming down on her, Sora thinks she’s never looked more beautiful. “I see how it is now, Sora.”

Further back into the ocean, Mickey leaps up into Riku’s arms with a hearty laugh. The silver-haired boy laughs right back, wrapping the mouse king up in a hug.

Sora still hasn’t said anything to Kairi, lost in her beautiful eyes and shell-shocked in the best way. His mind seems to have gone blank, until his earlier thought returns. Grinning, he reaches into his short’s pocket.

When Kairi sees the star-shaped charm he pulls out, the ultimate symbol of their bond and reminder of their eternal promise to always return to one another, she nearly falls to her knees at the sheer, overwhelming joy.

“We’re back,” Sora states simply, smiling up at the girl he loves with tears in his eyes. Raising his hand, he offers her the charm.

Kairi nods once, tears dropping into the ocean beneath her. “You’re home.”

Reaching out, she clasps Sora’s palm, the charm between them. The promise is fulfilled.

Sora and Kairi. Two hearts, forever bound in one inseparable Destiny.


	50. Sanctuary (After The Battle)

“Royal Flush, my friends!” Jack Skellington boisterously exclaims, grinning wide as his huge bony hands reach out to shepherd the pile of poker chips from the middle of the table and into his possession. “Am I hot tonight or what?”

The other holiday leaders say nothing. They’re not even looking to Jack, but instead to Santa Claus. The man who had broken rule number two (the first and foremost rule was the one that prohibited “clever” cartoon greeting cards from being exchanged even in jest) of their little weekly game: **_NO Skellington!!!_**

The jolly old fellow can only offer a sheepish smile and shrug. How was he to know the Pumpkin King’s skull could naturally hold such an excellent poker face?

“Oh, this is so much fun!” Jack cackles. “Deal ‘em up, Cupid. Sally needs a new pair of ankles!”

**KH-KH-KH**

The entire colony turns up to see off their “brave warriors”. The summer season is back, and that means gigs and paying customers await.

“And so,” Francis announces to the newly crowned Queen Atta, gesturing behind him where Manny is swirling two leaves around Slim’s open hand, “we leave you with this gift, from us to you!”

With a flourish, Manny pulls his leaves away, revealing the object held in Slim’s hand. Atta, and the rest of the colony, stare intently at the gift.

“Oh,” the queen ant says, remembering her lessons about grace under any circumstance. “How, lovely! It’s such a nice rock…”

Behind the befuddled queen, Flick and Dot giggle privately to each other.

**KH-KH-KH**

Li Shang, captain in the Imperial Chinese Army and the emperor’s personal bodyguard, takes a slow, calming breath.

In his short career, he’s faced threats of such staggering intensity, older officers would be liable to run in terror. Shadow monsters, avalanches, strange and powerful men dressed in black… Each and every one of those threats, he’s stared down without hesitation.

But at this moment, they all seem to pale in comparison to the small, wizened old lady standing before him.

“Grandma,” Mulan says, gesturing back to her guest. “This is Captain Li Shang, the one I told you about. We, uh, we work together.”

“Do ya now?” the senior citizen chuckles, giving Shang a good once over. She smiles at what she sees. “So, this is the kind of man you meet in the army, eh?”

Mulan giggles into her hand. “Oh yes, grandma.”

“Well in that case, go ahead and sign _me_ up for the next war!”

Taking in the scene from his vaunted position of honor within the Fa family shrine, Mushu lets loose a long, hearty laugh.

**KH-KH-KH**

Olympus Coliseum is open for business.

Herc and Meg stand back, admiring the final result of the grueling construction process. It had taken a while, and even with godlike strength it was a real labor, but in the end, it’s all worth it.

If asked, Phil would swear to (and _at_ ) he inquirer that the cause of his tears is the bright sun, glinting off the golden sword of one of the gladiator statues. And, of course, he’d be lying.

Far away from any prying eyes, Auron watches it all unfold. Satisfied with what he sees, the grizzled old man turns and begins walking away. Before he reaches the coliseum’s outer gate, his body has already separated into a cloud of glowing pyreflies.

**KH-KH-KH**

“How are the apples today, Jean-Claude?” Quasimodo cheerfully asks his favorite fruit vendor.

“ _Excellent_ , Quasi, _simplement exquisite_ ,” he replies, gesturing to the tray where he keeps the red fruit.

“Good to hear!” the hunchback laughs, grabbing a few and placing them in his sack. After he pays Jean-Claude, Quasimodo goes on his merry way.

“ _Bonjour_ Quasimodo!” a young woman passing by calls out, nodding at him.

As he makes his way back to Notre Dame, several more people call out to him in passing. Their friendly greetings are a far cry from what he’d been taught so long to expect of the outside world.

The initial adjustment hadn’t been easy, and there still existed to occasional trouble spot, but for the most part things have turned out fine for the bellringer.

And so, the young man puts on a bright smile as he strolls down the streets of Paris, the city that is his home. His sanctuary.

**KH-KH-KH**

With a grunt of effort, Cogsworth pushes open the door to the castle’s library. As he suspected, the master and Belle sit together at the room’s long table, huddled together over some novel.

“I hate to interrupt, Master,” the majordomo sighs, quickly striding across the floor, “but we _do_ have guests waiting in the ballroom.”

Belle and her husband heave twin sighs, reluctantly lifting their gazes from the book in front of them.

“C’mon Cogsworth,” the prince whines. “Just let us read one more chapter, then we’ll go! We’re at the best part.”

“Now, now,” Belle admonishes the former Beast. “You do still have a long way to go with reestablishing relations with your subjects. Keeping them waiting would _not_ be the right thing to do.”

The prince groans inwardly, already able to tell where this is going.

“In fact,” the Princess of Heart continues, giggling, “I’d think it rather _beastly_ , wouldn’t you?”

Oh gee, like he’s never heard that one before.

**KH-KH-KH**

“You know, we have servants for this kind of thing,” Princess Jasmine says to her fiancée, entering the small room he’s been staying in for the past year. Only three more months, and it will no longer be necessary. The young woman smiles at that thought. “In fact, they’ve already written nearly two hundred of them.”

Aladdin shrugs, not looking up from his project. The young man’s focus is tight, ever vigilant for mistakes. Writing and reading are still a bit new to him.

“Yeah, but that’s for all of _your_ guests,” the former street rat teasingly replies. “A bunch of muckety-mucks from distant kingdoms. This one is for my friends, and I want it done _my_ way.”

After a few minutes work, he holds up the paper like it’s the fabled lamp itself. “There, finished.”

“Do you want me to check it over?” Jasmine asks, holding out her hand.

“Sure, that’d be nice,” Aladdin admits, handing the paper over to his fiancée.

She quickly runs her eyes over it, smiling at its personal nature. Certainly it’s more intimate and familiar than anything the other guest are receiving.

“Well?” Aladdin asks, looking nervous despite himself.

“It’s wonderful,” the princess assures him with a big grin.

The former street rat lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Great, that’s awesome Jasmine. Okay, now read it back to me. Just to make sure.”

“Of course I will.” She takes a moment to clear her throat. “Ahem. ‘ _Dear Sora, Azlyn, and Telary…_ ’”

**KH-KH-KH**

Joshamee Gibbs, loyal first mate of the _Black_ _Pearl_ holds his hand out for the captain to grab. Instead of the expected flesh, however, a grimy human leg bone slaps into his open palm.

Jack Sparrow pulls himself up onto the deck, allowing the coffin he had been using as a makeshift vessel to drift back out to sea.

“Well, captain?” Gibbs inquire, leaning in close. Not too close, of course. After days of separation, who knows what the good captain’s breath could smell like? “Success?”

Jack nods slyly. “Oh yes, Mr. Gibbs. Success indeed.”

The portly man grins wide. “Good to hear captain. I take it you’re one step closer to finding the way of wielding that Keyblade?”

Gibbs’ captain raises an eyebrow at his first mate, as if the very question is offensive. “Keyblade? What Keyblade, mate?”

“Um,” Gibbs bites his lip, grimacing at the taste of it. “You know, Captain. The one wielded by that Sora boy. The one that can open any lock? That Keyblade.”

Jack nods sagely. “Ah, yes. Keyblade.” He leans back and laughs, confusing his old friend even more. “Oh, I gave up that hunt weeks ago. Been to ten different so-called mystics I have, and none of ‘em had any inkling as to the nature or acquisition rights of such an item.”

“So, uh, then _why_ did ya infiltrate that festering pit, if I may ask, if not to find our key?”

“Key?” Jack parrots, tilting his head in confusion. “Oh, I got us a key alright!” He reaches into the breast pocket of his coat, pulling out some slim object.

“Is that it?” Gibbs inquires. “The key?”

Jack shakes his head, chuckling as if his first mate has just told some funny joke. The pirate opens his hand to reveal a folded piece of parchment.

“What I have here is much more better than that,” the _Black Pearl_ ’s captain announces. “It is, in fact, a _drawing_ of a key…”

**KH-KH-KH**

Hayner, Pence, and Olette sit on the lip of the Twilight Town clock tower, blissfully eating ice cream and enjoying their summer break. It’s a simple existence, but they don’t mind.

**KH-KH-KH**

Hands on his hips, Pete surveys the Hall of Empty Melodies. The sight isn’t exactly pretty, what with the glass roof pretty much all falling in. In fact, there are trouble spots all through the Castle That Never Was. Whatever had happened inside that giant floating door, it sure had one hell of a spillover.

“Well,” he finally says to his mistress, “I guess it coulda been worse, eh?”

“On the contrary,” Maleficent replies, grinning like the cat that ate the canary, then all the canary’s friends. “This is excellent! Exactly what I hoped for! Why, with this castle as my own…”

“WHAT!” Pete yelps, jumping a full two feet in the air. “Maleficent, ya can’t be serious! I already told ya, this place is too close to the Darkness! The Heartless won’t…”

“You _told me_ , did you?” the jade-skinned sorceress shrieks. Her minion jumps back, covering his face. “I suppose you did. But remember Peter, _I_ told you _something_ as well.”

Maleficent waves her hand, a simple elegant motion. For a long moment nothing happens. Then, just when Pete is about to obliviously ask what was supposed to happen, a Neoshadow rises from the white floor. It looks around in bewilderment for a second, until finally it fixes its gaze upon Maleficent. Without any further ado, the shadow creature bow before the witch.

“I told you not to underestimate me.”

**KH-KH-KH**

“Okay,” Tron mutters to himself, all of his processing power queing up for this one, monumental task. “Are you boys sure about this?’

“Positive, Tron!” Phineas assures the program. He and Ferb stand before the system administrator, clad in the blue armor of all Space Paranoids residents and visitors. “We ran several test, and only once out of six times did this program inspire homicidal mania.”

Tron nods, trying to remain calm. “So, that’s about a seventeen percent chance.” He shrugs. “Those odds are okay by me. Hit it boys!”

At the program’s command, Ferb presses the triangle-shaped button on the MP3-player’s window. On cue, a bouncy electronic beat streams into the room.

Tron takes a second to absorb it, carefully parsing out the time-signature. He begins nodding along, letting the music direct his body where it wants to go. Toe-tapping follows, a snap not long behind.

The second the bass drops, the system administration program really lets loose.

**KH-KH-KH**

Quistis regards the men and women before her with a critical eye. Usually she can spot the stars in an instant, and this time is no different.

“Hello, recruits!” the young blonde calls out, every eye following as she paces the length of the newly rebuilt bailey’s courtyard. “Welcome to your first day of training for the Radiant Garden Defense Force!”

**KH-KH-KH**

LeBlanc and Cid sit side-by-side on a bench in one of the city’s many parks, sharing a meal between them. It’s a beautiful day, absolutely perfect for their date.

Or, as it turns out, a crime.

“Fly Gullwings, fly!” Yuna calls out, bursting out of a bush with Rikku and Paine right behind. “Operation Pie In The Sky is a go!”

LeBlanc springs to her feet, absolutely indignant. “Why you little, I’ll have you know I spent _hours_ baking that pie just right for my Ciddy, and there is _no_ way I’ll allow your grubby little hands anywhere near it!”

For his part, Cid decides to sit back and just watch the show unfold.

**KH-KH-KH**

“Quadrant three on the north wall is all finished up, boss,” Yuffie reports, skipping into Merlin’s house with a carefree smile.

Leon says nothing, his eyes carefully roaming the piece of paper in his hand. Yuffie frowns, tilting her head to get a better look. For a long moment, the only sound in the room is Perry the platypus’s quiet snore.

“That’s good news, Yuffie,” the Restoration Committee’s leader says, nodding absently. In a quieter voice, and mostly to himself, he adds, “ _Great_ news.”

The great ninja has no idea what to do next, so she just resorts to backing slowly out of the room. “Okay then. Uh, I’m gonna go grab some lunch. That okay with you, Squall?”

Sitting at a table across the room, Aerith shoots her young friend a gently reprimanding glare. Leon had been in such a great mood, and all it’ll take to tick him off again is a single utterance of his abandoned name.

“Sure thing, Yuffie.” No outburst, no reprimand. Not even a glare. This is truly unheard of.

It’s as if time stops. Aerith’s jaw drops, Yuffie lets out a gasp, and even Perry lazily opens one eye. An event has just passed that will live on throughout Radiant Garden history.

“Right,” Yuffie says, starting her creep out the door again. “Great, cool. That’s cool. See ya later… Squall?”

The man in question nods once. “Alright Yuffie. Don’t take too long, you’ve still got a bit of filing to do.”

Later on, Aerith surreptitiously sweeps her eyes over the paper Squall had been reading. She only gets a second’s glance, but that’s all it takes to note the small picture in the sheet’s upper righthand corner. Two angel wings, colored a faint pink.

**KH-KH-KH**

The last remnants of the supposed Door to Light fade out, leaving the Dark Margin once again worthy of its name. All is still and quiet, the only sound that of waves gently lapping against the shoreline. Once again, the Realm of Darkness knows only emptiness.

Or so it may appear.

Two figures emerge from the Dark Forest, one smaller and quite noticeably female, the other male and almost twice as tall. Each is covered from head to toe in a suit of armor, dozens of plates locking together seamlessly, even their eyes hidden by a visor of black glass. Long capes blow behind them in the stiff wind.

The larger figure leans heavily on the smaller, who seems to have no trouble dragging her comrade further down the beach. The pair make it a few steps past the treeline, then promptly collapse. For some time, they merely sit together in a quiet rest, the sound of labored breathing joining that of the waves.

Finally, the female figure speaks, her voice coming out ragged, raspy. Like it hasn't been used in a very long time, except for screaming. "How… long?"

The man is silent for a moment, though whether he's contemplating the question or just out of breath is unknown. "Eternity."

"Did you feel… it too? The power that… freed us from that realm?"

"Yes. And I felt… him. Xehanort. But… different. Incomplete. Then gone. Destroyed."

"At least, we have that satisfaction." The armored female's voice is getting stronger, though her body can still feel the effects of the long nightmare. "After… what he did to…"

"No," her male companion disagree, using what little energy he has to shake his head. "No satisfaction… yet. Not while… _it_ still exists. Whoever had it… escaped. Same way we did. Just luck we weren't… seen."

The female weakly reaches out, brushing against her partner's chest. "We can deal with it, my friend. Just as soon as we're at full strength again. Give it time, and our mission can continue."

"Yes." The armored man leans back, closing his eyes for a long, hopefully peaceful and restorative slumber. "Soon… we will be strong enough again. And then… we'll destroy the Keyblade and… whoever is foolish or mad enough to wield it. Once and… for all."

**KH-KH-KH**

Sora leans back against the tree, watching as Azlyn and Telary explore the beach, laughing together as they run and splash at each other. After a few playful fakeouts, the knight charges her fiancée and tackles him to the ground, kissing the absolute life out of him despite the fact that both of them are laughing so hard they can hardly breathe. Mickey stands close by, shaking his head at the antics.

Riku joins him, taking a seat at his fellow Keybearer’s side.

“Well, we finally made it,” Riku muses, ducking his head away so no one can see his tears. His lifelong friend knows that they’re there, but decides to let him have his dignity. After a minute of composing himself, he brushes his hair away and looks up to Sora again. “Back home. Is it everything you thought it would be?”

Sora grins. “You know it is.” He takes another look around, focusing on the familiar landscape rather than the people. It’s all just as he remembers it. For a long time he’d feared that he would return only to find it all different, and he’s glad that it isn’t in the slightest. “What a small world.”

Riku shakes his head. “Yeah, but it’s part of something much bigger. Just like we all are.”

A sudden thought strikes Sora, and he turns his head to meet his silver-haired friend’s gaze. “So, Riku, what do you think the Door to the Light was? That’s gotta be how we got back here.”

Reaching out, Riku taps a finger against Sora’s chest, right underneath his pendant. Where his heart is. “Right here. Just where it’s always been.”

Sora grins, chuckles. “It’s always closer than you think, huh?”

“Ahem,” Kairi cuts in from behind the boys. They turns to see her approaching, her hair practically glowing in the light of the golden sun, like the auburn strands have a fire all their own burning deep inside them. “Am I interrupting anything?”

Sora shakes his head. “Not at all, Kairi.” He pats the spot next to him, obligingly helping her settle atop it. He looks from her to Riku, tears pricking at his blue eyes. “Well, would ya look at this? The three of us, together again.” The Keybearer throws his arms around his friends. “There were times I was sure this was never gonna happen again. But here we are.”

“Here we are,” Riku repeats, almost dreamily. He looks happy to be home.

“After everything we went through, all the time apart, trying our hardest to be together again…” Kairi marvels, watching as Mickey finally manages to break up Azlyn and Telary’s love fest. “I can’t believe that it’s finally ended.”

“Hey you three!” Azlyn calls out to the trio. Telary’s holding her around the waist from behind, his chin resting atop her head. “Get your butts down here and tell me where we can find a blitzball! Three on three, Disney Castle versus Destiny Islands! Prepare to be humbled by the superior world!”

As Mickey and Telary team up to admonish her about the equal importance of _all_ worlds, Sora turns and presses a kiss to Kairi’s cheek, then locks eyes with her.

“Oh, it isn’t the end, Kairi,” he declares, pushing off the trunk and lifting up a hand to the girl he loves. “It’s the _beginning_.”

Smiling, she takes the hand and accepts his help down from the trunk. The future awaits, after all.

They go together.

_In You and I,_

_There’s a new land…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge and sincere thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed this story!


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